


The Vessel

by Clairvoyantkid



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Character Development, Comedy, Disturbing Themes, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Magic, Mild Language, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suggestive Themes, Witches, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-20 10:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16553903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clairvoyantkid/pseuds/Clairvoyantkid
Summary: Anny Pascal had been able to see the magic all around her since the day she was born. She had learned with time and patience to ignore it, to shove aside the urges that might lead her astray from her goals, her desire to survive. That all ended one fateful day when she was shoved through a portal, ending up in a world of magic, mayhem, and witches, and now she’s stuck in the middle of it all.





	1. Magic All Around Us

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please Enjoy!  
> If you don’t mind, please leave me some positive feedback or kudos!  
> ♡

The first time it happened, it was quick. It had hardly registered in my brain as anything out of the ordinary. I’d brushed it off my shoulder just as fast as I’d seen it happen, but it did happen. In the garden of my family home, I’d seen a brief flutter of shimmering wings like the shine on a bubble, a faint voice.

The second time it occurred, I looked twice, doubling back on my steps to take another glance. It took days for me to convince myself fully. There was no way on earth I’d seen something of that size, of that sort in the woods on the school trip. Things like that just didn’t exist.

The third time, I was certain. I knew for sure in that moment that what I was seeing was real. It couldn’t be a trick of the light or something funky in my food. It had to be something substantial, something tangible. I knew, with complete certainty, I’d seen magic. It was in the plants that seemed to grow overnight, in the strange creatures that lurked in every dark shadow and on every street corner, in the things around me that moved suddenly and without reason, changing in a flash.

So, it happened again and again and again, so frequently, it became commonplace. Yet, I never told a single soul about what I’d been seeing everywhere I went. It wasn’t exactly socially encouraged to claim you were seeing things. I must’ve believed magic was real, to a degree. Still, there was an ever present doubt that lingered in the back of my mind, telling me to dismiss it, that the supernatural was an old wives’ tale. Eventually, I grew up and learned to hide the things I saw in the corner of my eye and with it, learned to hide my opinions, learned to disregard my concerns and learned to live just out of detection. The magic faded, a faint memory, an illusion that caught more and more dust with the passing years. I forgot the magic and how to see it, I forgot it all.

That day in particular there were clouds.  
The rain was gently coming down, just a drizzle that left behind a sheen on my glasses. I paused at a familiar street corner, and watched the red stoplight glimmering above me. The light changed eventually and took with it a flutter of my bronze-dusted lashes. My dewy skin glistened in the neon green glow of an electronic ‘GO.’ I raised my chin to the sky for a moment and let the rain coat me in a damp film. Then, I stepped off the sidewalk and crossed the street, heading swiftly for the dangling wooden sign of the bookstore.

I had a routine. Repetition and regiment were two of the most important things to me and rightfully so. When you do everything for yourself and can’t rely on anyone else to help you out, you find it’s good to have a safety net, such as a routine. Wake up, go to school, go to work, make a meal, go to bed. But, on Fridays, that’s when I went to the bookstore.

I pushed the glass door open and stepped inside. The rain was instantly deafened as the door snapped shut behind me. I dried the bottoms of my shoes on the welcome mat and blew a warm breath into the palms of my stiff hands. The store was entirely silent minus the soft turning of a page here or there from within the massive rows of books lining the walls. You would have hardly known that place had seen its share of years if you didn’t know it as well as I did. The ceiling was freshly painted once a year. The faded drab woodwork had been plastered with so many coats of white it seemed to shrink more and more each time.

I had counted my pennies that week in particular. Fresh groceries sat in my fridge at home, and my wallet had enough money for the train tickets required to get where I needed to go. I had been frugal and I had earned it. One book, I allowed myself the internal promise that I would leave with one and one alone.

When I was a child, living with my mother, my room was scarcely anything less than a library. Books told stories and stories were the key to finding joy in life. Without stories, there was nowhere for me to spill my wild imagination, other than the paper. The stories I told were plastered to parchment in the form of whimsical drawings and sketches, ink dragons and charcoal knights.  
My something was the stories, my something was in the art.

I stepped leisurely along the first shelf, drawing my fingers along the bumps of each paper spine. It smelled like the dust of an old house and fresh coffee. The foggy glare that lingered in my temples due to the weather seemed to lessen with each inhalation of paper scented incense. My knuckles steadily drew to a stop when the print of a certain author caught my eye. Just a ways above eye level, the title glimmered in gold writing. It was obviously a very new copy, sitting untouched and unbothered.

I reached to grab the book, toes curling in my suede shoes as my fingers brushed its binding, only to miss futilely. I stumbled a bit, but caught myself and stretched harder, up on the edges of my rubber soles. That time, it was simply plucked off the shelf by another larger hand. It’s digits brushed me aside like I was nothing. My brow furrowed as I settled back down, ready to face the culprit. When my gaze finally fixed itself steady upon them, I nearly stumbled into the bookshelf in shock.

A tall, young man stood before me, towering nearly half a foot over my head. He was gorgeous, windswept blonde curls dancing like curtains over his oval face. His brilliant emerald eyes were two narrow slivers over heart-shaped cheeks, peering down at me quizzically. The man’s thin lips were parted to reveal a smile like a slice of white hell, grinning to swallow me whole.

The clothes on his body were just as peculiarly charming. A thin gossamer dress shirt, that seemed almost made out of air, was draped over his shapely shoulders and tucked sloppily into the waistband of his jet black leggings. If it weren’t for the fact that I was in a book store, I’d have mistook the outfit, heeled boots and smoke stained eyelids for something off a movie set.  
My gaze traced the man up and down, meeting his own finally, but the expression carved into his face didn’t waver, one of fixed interest scanning over me as well.

“Did you want this, Miss?” He asked, his voice deep and rolling pleasantly like an ocean’s wave.

I blinked the dazed look from my features and slowly stepped back from the shelf. Peering defiantly into his dilated pupils, I took a breath.

“Yes, thank you,” I muttered gently and pointed haplessly at the small novel clutched in his palm. His strangely clawed talons dwarfed it appropriately. The man raised an eyebrow at me, and followed the direction I was pointing.

“Here,” He said simply, handing the book out to me.

“Thank you. Again,” I sighed, shifting my bag apprehensively higher onto my shoulder. I reached out and took the book from him. Before I could turn on my heel and exit that interaction as swiftly as it had begun, the man stepped towards me, tongue licking over his lips prudently. I stopped, hesitating on a half step.

“You like that author?” He hummed.

“Yes,” I swallowed, straightening myself back up. Sliding the book under my arm, I spared him a response. “He’s a childhood favorite of mine.”

“Ah, yes. The Flight of Dragons is also a favorite of mine,” He said, nodding to the movement of my hand wrapped tightly around the novel.

“Really?” I exclaimed too eagerly. My eyes widened, curiosity gripping me at the throat and dragging the words out from my pursed frown.

“Yes. I’ve read almost all of Charles’ works. He knew a lot of truths about life and displayed them well, even in children’s books,” The man chuckled, and leaned against the shelf beside him, arms crossed.

“Yes. Yes, he did,” I cleared my throat and shifted my weight uneasily from foot to foot. I could feel the chills run up my neck and down my sides. It was a familiar discomfort, one of social unease, one that clawed hopelessly at my stomach until I wanted to vomit or hide myself, or both. I did my best to shove it away, avoiding that green stare and looking down at my feet.

“My name’s Hoseok. You?” The man’s hand, tan skin and glinting silver rings, flashed into my line of sight, outstretched expectantly. I snapped my chin up to him once more, and he was smiling still, so kindly.

“Anny,” I whispered and lifted my hand, hesitating briefly before our fingertips could brush. Hoseok, as he called himself, took the initiative and grabbed me, making me jump. He shook my hand once, firmly, and dropped it.

“Do you read a lot, Anny?” His questions didn’t stop and neither did the gradually increasing lump in the back of my mouth.

“Yes,” I said.

“I do too. I’m assuming you’re a college student. Are you majoring in writing?” Hoseok drummed his knuckles absentmindedly along the rows of books, and the rhythmic tapping echoed in the silent hall around us.

“No, um, fine arts... and performing arts,” I mumbled, “You?”

“I’m finished with college, on to bigger and better things,” Hoseok sighed. He froze in his motions to pull on the binding of a book, now sliding it in and out of it’s slot.

“Oh, that’s nice,” I managed to say.

“But anyways, the _arts_ ,” He drawled out the last word. Lifting his hand to the sky, he looked as though he was holding an invisible skull or was planning to break out into monologue right then and there. “You know, you remind me of someone I know.” He pulled his arm back in.

“Really?” I snorted, almost smirking at that, but I threw that urge away as quickly as it came. “But you just met me.”

“I _know_ people. Trust me,” Hoseok said, nodding his head gently.

“I’ll take your word for it,” I said and fixed my posture a bit more.

“Do you live around here, Anny?” Hoseok purred as he began to move forward. I jolted, mimicking him, only backwards instead. He walked around me, lingering at my side momentarily, and I swore I almost heard him giggle.

“Yeah... Just up the road,” I said, frozen stiff.

“Me too,” Hoseok chirped and his grin spread so wide into his cheeks they nearly popped off his face. “Do you mind if I walked back with you?”

“Why?” I interrogated him, glaring harshly, and I was right to.

That man didn’t know me and I didn’t know that man, no matter what he insisted. If there was one thing I knew, it was never trust a stranger, no matter how alluring or how friendly they seem. I didn’t trust people to begin with, so there wasn’t a logical reason why I should have spared him from that rule then.

Hoseok blinked, completely dumbfounded before he suddenly hitched and bent over himself. He laughed, bright and cawing and red in the face.

“Well,” He started, taking a breath, “You seem like a person of culture, and there aren’t too many of those around these days. In short, I’d like to talk with you.”

His teeth glimmered as he flashed those terribly enchanting pearly whites. Something in the bell chimes of all his guffawing had managed to convince some long asleep part of me that he meant me no harm. I rolled my eyes, partly at him, party at myself and fixed my fists to my hips, thinking hard but not hard enough.

“Fine,” I said, though it was closely followed with an accusing finger pointed straight back at him. “But if you try anything, I’ll pepper spray you until you’re blind!”

Hoseok laughed even harder that time.

I bought the novel and the strange man and I left the store together. Clutching the cover close to my chest, we started to walk. It was beginning to get so cold as the sunlight faded that every breath I took left little wisps of mist in front of my mouth. Autumn air swirled around me taking every lick of warmth it could and shivering, I stole a glimpse of the body walking alongside me in content silence. His hands were tucked into his pockets and a small simper has slapped itself upon his mouth. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, pulling my pullover closed and tucking my chin downward into the fabric. We kept walking from the south end to the north, towards my home. With hours left before dawn and the air smelling of a storm, I quickened my pace and so did Hoseok.

The wind suddenly let out a powerful gust and blew right through my flesh like I was nothing, tugging at my clothing with its claws. I kept my head down but continued to glance beside me, waiting for the supposed conversation Hoseok had planned. The third time I searched for him on my right, I stared straight into nothingness, out into empty road. My ankles clicked together and I tripped in confusion. Luckily, I caught myself just in time, turning on a dime to look for him.

Hoseok stood about five feet back from me, gazing off down the sidewalk blankly. I squinted, jogging promptly up to him. His expression was sober and serious with his brow twisted in a hawklike stare.

“Everything okay?” I asked quietly.

Hoseok’s shoulders slowly lifted with a deep inhalation, but his gaze didn’t break. He raised an arm then, and brought a palm down on the small of my back. I froze under the contact, still looking straight up at him.

“You’re going to need to run now, understand?” Hoseok whispered.

“I’m sorry, excuse me?” I chuckled, stepping forward a bit. His hand followed, rushing in front of me that time, to plant firmly to my chest and push me back behind him. With that same hand, he dug smoothly into his pocket and pulled out a stick of sorts. It was about the length of his forearm, black, and smooth and he held it between his thumb and forefinger with precise care, pointing straight ahead. I followed the direction of that motion and it was then that I saw what had shaken him so. The color drained from my cheeks and my body went numb. The novel dropped from my hand and my bag fell from my shoulder, clattering to the ground.

A light wasn’t the right word to describe what I was seeing. It was more, a swirling vortex of concentrated white energy. It spun quick like a top, and hovered above the sidewalk in mid air no more than fifty feet from where we stood.  
Whatever it was, it seemed as though it had burst forth from the fabric of reality and tore a precise hole through space like it was nothing but tissue paper.

“Run already!” I heard Hoseok’s voice dimly at the edges of my awareness but I was petrified to the spot. My skin bristled and I could feel my heart rabbit like a hammer against my ribs. My knees went weak and useless.

After only seconds of staring into the ghastly bright void before me, I saw it flicker. It sputtered and whirred and a slender black shape instantly protruded out from the center. When it came fully down and clacked to the asphalt below, it was obvious what it was. A jet black pants leg followed swiftly by a long head of black hair, and finally, the rest of a body, clad in a suit as dark as night, pushed through the spiral. The man was seven feet tall with a pasty, jeering face like a skeleton. The air around the man’s body seemed to swirl and take with it the dust and debris around him.

“Run!” I felt a hand push at me again, sending me stumbling back another few feet.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t want to anyway. Out of all the confusing, shocking, and downright frightening things I had seen throughout my life, that was the worst. It wasn’t a nightmare I could just awaken from. It wasn’t something I could just shut my eyes and hide from. It was right there, plainly, unavoidably, grinning with a threatening smile that screamed death.

The adrenaline pounded in my veins like a carp through a river, but I couldn’t move a single flimsy muscle, not even to speak. The panic had completely paralyzed me, and the more I screamed at myself to run, or just to move one foot, the more discouraged I felt. I tried to think hard and remember if I’d been that scared any of the other times I’d seen something like that. I couldn’t recall.

The shadowy figure pulled a black rod, just like Hoseok’s, from his jacket pocket and pointed it in a similar fashion out at him. I heard Hoseok let out a noise that sounded not unlike a growl as three more identically dressed men came through the portal behind him.

“Hand it over and there will be no need for a fight, Jung.” With a voice like nails on a chalkboard, the first man spoke through the crooked bars of his teeth.

Hoseok smiled then, turning over his shoulder to offer it to me. His soft eyes stared knowingly into my ghostly expression and for a second, my pulse slowed. When he looked back again, he straightened his shoulders and spread his foot out in a smooth line across the pavement.

“I’m sorry but that just won’t do!” Hoseok called loudly over the wind, and in one swooping motion, he reached behind him to grab my wrist tight. He tugged hard and pulled me up against his side, hooking his arm around my waist. I huffed, the movement knocking me out of whatever trance had befallen me just in time to see Hoseok lift that same arm up over us. I looked between him and the dark man and saw the snarling smirk in his sickly, pale features dull into anger. Hoseok brought his arm down then, and less than a second later, we were surrounded in an ocean of red hot, blinding smoke.

When the smoke cleared, I found myself peering not into a street, but into the dark scarlet of a brick wall instead. I coughed once, bringing my hand up to my cover my mouth on the second. Hoseok stepped away from me then and I looked to him, noticing that we were in fact standing in an alleyway now.

“It won’t take them long to find us again, so I have to make this quick,” Hoseok grumbled, studying his surroundings with increased care. He peered all around us, spinning once on his heel before he stopped, seemingly convinced we were alone.

“What just,” I coughed, “What just happened!”

Leaning into each gag that rattled my lungs, I staggered back from him until my spine hit the wall behind me. I frantically turned my head down each direction of the alley, seeking out a possible escape route.

“Look at me,” Hoseok cooed, reaching out an open palm to me, an apology in his wide eyes. He rested it on the swell of my arm when I made no attempt to grasp it and coaxed me enough to get me to meet his still bright irises. “Are you brave?” He asked quietly.

“What?” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You seem like a bright individual, so tell me Anny, are you brave?” Hoseok repeated himself, his attention being tugged elsewhere mid sentence. He raised his free arm to point the object he was still holding out beside us and began to slowly circle it. The wind started to pick up around us.

“Uh, yes, I think?” I said, watching the pattern of his wrist, completely mesmerized.

Hoseok bobbed his hand with one last final stroke and as he did so a white burst of light, like a spark, shot forth from the tip and crashed into some invisible wall in the air before him. A loud popping noise followed closely after, like fire, making me wince, but then something appeared. A white spinning circle gradually materialized, swirling ends tangling in the air like spider webs. It was exactly the same one as before.

I shrieked, nearly jumping out of my skin. My body filled with terror and I went immediately to run. That time I knew well enough how to react. I made it barely one step before Hoseok grabbed at my arm harshly and stopped me.

“If you want to live, I’m gonna need you to jump for me,” Hoseok said. His expression was deadly serious, the strong line in his brow staying solid. His eyes pierced sharply into mine, conveying the message of his words perfectly without actually needing to speak.

“Jump? Jump to... where?” I asked.

“There.” Hoseok pointed into the center of the void. He pulled me forward, closer to him and the vortex. “When you land, run. Run as fast as you can and don’t stop.”

“I can’t do that!” I yelped and grabbed at the wrist that was wrapped around my forearm, tugging helplessly at his strong grip.

“Don’t be scared, just count to three,” Hoseok said, curling a hand now into the back of my sweater. I struggled and thrashed against his hold on me, crying and begging him not to do this as he walked us closer.

“One... Two... and...”

I braced my arm over my eyes and let out a scream as he forced me into the light.


	2. Into The Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please Enjoy!  
> If you don’t mind, please leave me some positive feedback or kudos!  
> ♡

The ground under me was soft. Curling my fingers gently into the material under my palms, I tested my joints and felt life flow back into them. I crinkled my nose and groaned, opening my eyes gradually to see my surroundings.

My body was laid out in a pile of leaves, which stretched as far as the naked eye could see. From the forest floor extended gigantic, gnarly tree trunks, whose outstretched branches danced over the dim sky and blotted out the sun. Their bark was as dark as soot and I’d have thought they’d been scorched by fire if it weren’t for the leaves that still clung to their boughs. Everything was bathed in an odd purple light, making each shape looked warped and contorted.

I got up slowly, and pulled myself into a crouch, with my knees folded underneath. Breathing quick, I took in the odd tang that the wind held on my tongue like a bitter aftertaste. This wasn’t like any forest I’d been in before. It was dead silent, as though nothing had ever lived here before and never would. It was so quiet all I could hear was the dry rain of the leaves rustling above and my own breathing. Everything smelled weird. It didn’t smell like a forest, too moldy and sour. With my eyelids shut, I could have mistaken it for a swamp.

I sighed and clambered to a standing position. Only when I was finally upright did I feel the raging headache that had quickly set in. It thrummed precisely to the left of my forehead and made every breath hurt. Raising a hand to my brow, I turned in a complete circle. No matter what direction I turned in, everything looked the same and the wind seemed to consistently blow only into my back.

 _What_ _was_ _it_ _Hoseok_ _had_ _said?_ _Run_ _and_ _don’t_ _stop?_ _Something_ _like_ _that?_

I kicked a stone in front of my shoe and started to walk, with hands tucked nervously into my pockets. The more I walked, the heavier it weighed in my mind that I didn’t really know exactly where I was headed, or even where I was. With each step, I became gradually more uneasy. I passed the same tree maybe ten times in a less than an hour, or at least I thought I did. It was impossible to tell, each one was a carbon copy of the last.

I paused after a while, stopping to investigate the carcass of a fallen tree trunk. It was the first thing I’d seen in maybe three hours that was in any way different from the rest of the bland scenery. Even the sun had barely budged from its position in the still, indigo sky. Its trunk had been split messily open and had fallen in two halves. Its grave was a pile of crumpled weeds. I went to run my hand along the bark, but just as my fingers touched to the crisp wood, I heard a noise.

I jolted away and turned in a rush to look behind me. My doe eyes flicked between the sections of where the trees parted, searching for the culprit. Then I heard another sound, this time a voice. It was far off, but it was speaking like sandpaper in a gruff tone, commanding unclear demands. I recognized it instantly.

It only took me a second to break out running in the opposite direction. I moved so fast I almost slipped on the mulch from the sheer force I sent myself off with. The air shifted for the first time since I’d arrived in the woods and shocked my throat and lungs as I began to inhale deeper. With each footfall, a jarring pain shot ankle to knee, ankle to knee. It’s all or nothing, so I don’t let it bother me. Distance was all that mattered. I wasn’t going to stop for anything, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop for a little throbbing in my limbs or in my head, I told myself when it started to become noticeable. I heard more yelling then, around three hundred yards off, and at my sides, my fingers wrapped into sweaty fists, swinging forward as though it would make me faster. My feet carried me steadily and my eyes stayed glued to furthest point I could see ahead.

Running away was nothing like I had thought it would be. It was far worse. My face was flushed red and my expression was just pure panic. My lifestyle kept me fit but still my fingers and toes tingled with gradual weariness and I knew I was seconds away from collapsing.

I stopped, unavoidably, to allow myself to breathe, tripping over my swollen ankles. Before I could collapse, my shoulder connected with the side of a tree and I clung to the twisted trunk for dear life. I scrambled to stay steady and standing, looking back where I’d come from. There wasn’t a visible sign of my pursuers, but I could clearly hear the shouting of orders off in the distance and I didn’t plan on sticking around to find out what exactly they were ordering. I forced myself off the bark and only managed to stumble once before I was off again.

Another few minutes of running and I could barely feel the soles of my feet tapping the earth. I was sure it had only been a few minutes, but every tree still looked the same and every patch of grey mist seemed to swirl with the same likeness. For all I knew, I could have been running for hours, days, years. With the way my lungs were wheezing, I would believe it if someone told me it had been years.

When the toe of my boot smashed into the hard edge of a stone, I hardly realized I had been sent flying until my body had smacked to the mossy ground. I let out a pained groan and gasped for the air that had been knocked from my lungs, lying helplessly on my stomach. Each attempt to push myself back up was met with a raging pain that seemed to mysteriously come from every joint in my frame. I allowed exhaustion to claim me, just for a minute, I promised myself. Though, the minute ended all too soon and I sighed in recognition, which came out more like a cough. I wiggled my arms under my ribcage and forced myself up onto my elbows, lifting my head. The world seemed to spin for a moment, leaving me blinking furiously to try and make out the strange dark smudge in my vision.

My eyes cleared finally and I found myself staring, straight ahead, at a sort of mansion.  
It was massive, bigger than any suburban residence I’d ever seen. In fact, it was so large the roof seemed to disappear into the fog far above. Ebony and umber trimmings, shingles, and sidings left the odd manor feeling like a black hole, sucking the life out of its surroundings. Every shutter was drawn tight, and there was hardly a sign any person lived there at all.

There were many questions I could’ve asked in that moment.  
Who did this building belong to?  
What was it doing in the middle of a creepy forest?  
Why did it look like something out of a horror film from the nineties?  
Although, I was starting to be able to hear the faint voices of those strange men catching up to me, and if I had to run any longer I was afraid my hips may twist right off my body and run past me. Plus, what little light the trees above had allowed to pepper the forest floor was quickly fading and I didn’t want to be caught out in the dark, especially in whatever hell I’d fallen into. So, I shuffled my way along the debris and dead plant life until I was crawling, and finally limping on two legs once more. I made my way, tottering back and forth until I found myself on the stoop of the mansion’s decrepit porch.

Before me, stood a door, just as impressively large. It was maroon, but the paint had chipped and faded leaving it a sickly ruddy brown. Right in the center of this door, was the iron face of some sort of creature, snarling viciously and grinning with a set of long, sharp teeth. In its unwelcoming jaws, hung a heavy ring, made of the same iron.

I swallowed nervously and stole one more glance behind me before I lifted a shaky hand to the door knocker. My fingertips connected to the cold metal and I froze expecting, oddly enough, something to happen.  
Though nothing did.

I clenched my jaw to brace myself and gathering all the bravery I had left, I pulled back on the piece of metal, letting it thump back down. When it collided with the material of the door, the booming sound it made rung out into the air around me, droning uneasily in my ears like television static.

I waited a minute, two minutes, counting each individual second until I could hear my heartbeat in my head. All I received was vacant silence. Perhaps, as I had assumed, the house really was abandoned, left to rot in this horrific woodland tomb. Whether this was to aid me, or doom me, had yet to be seen.

Shifting the tender heft of my body onto my less worn out limb, I let my throat work itself around another deep, sobering inhalation. I dropped my hand down, along the rotting wood to try my luck at the large brass handle off to my right. I wrapped my trembling fingers around the length of it and tried to wiggle it once, to no avail. It was locked solidly shut, refusing to budge even when I forced my weight desperately into it.

It took three more tries of me slamming my side into the doorway for me to give up. I let out a pitiful cry of defeat and slumped against the rickety panel. My sinuses burned and my teeth stung and the way I was grinding them in panic only furthered the ache. I furrowed my brow, mind racing, uselessly searching for any ideas on how to save my skin from whatever horrors awaited me.

It was then that I felt the sticky substance that was trailing its way along the side of my skull, dripping onto the expanse of my jacket. I raised two fingers up to my temple and brought them back before me so I could examine them.  
Bright red coated my digits, warm blood flowing in my veins and now outside them.

I shuddered and wiped the fluid onto my pants leg. Turning around, I stared blankly off into the mess of crooked timber before me, unsure as to my next move. I kept rotating, looking for something, anything, that could be of help or of use to me. When my line of sight eventually hit the corner of the house off to my left, I reflexively went to turn back, but then, I stopped. I looked back and the thought popped into my skull as mundanely and humdrum as brushing my teeth each morning.

 _A_ _backdoor._

Every house has to have a backdoor, even one as eccentric as this one, and hopefully, it’s been left unlocked.

A particularly loud shout shot through my eardrums and I moved into my first step. I hurried, rushing to jump off the porch, and just barely kept myself upright as I landed. Staying close to the siding, I reached the end and sharply turned the corner right as the harsh voices I’d been hearing began to become fully audible. Faster still, I dashed until I’d rounded the final bend.

I slowed to an uneven stop, my shins clicking painfully together and my muscles feeling as dense as lead. What I saw stretched out before me, with glossy, bloodshot eyes, was nothing at all like the grim and gloomy vegetation I’d been so unlucky to find myself surrounded by.

It was a garden.  
Like something out of a children’s fairytale, only more real.  
Tall, beautiful sunflowers the size of dinner plates coiled up all around me. Hearty cherry blossom saplings sprouted from the dirt and dusted the earth below them in pink petals. Curling swirls of orchids, tulips and daisies kissed the air with a sweet fragrance that gripped my body like a warm hug and beckoned me forward with a coaxing finger deep in my senses.

I wandered in, dragging my heels behind me as the strain that adrenaline had been disguising gradually started to return. I trailed my fingers along the thick stems all around me. For a moment, I almost forgot the goal at hand. Finding the back door seemed like a far off dilemma in the midst of all those beautiful flowers. It was almost as though they were stroking me, touching the edges of my heart with soft kisses and gentle caresses.  
Still, I pushed forward.

Eventually, the brilliantly colored flora thinned out and parted away, exposing a stretch of bare lawn. A small, circular glade of untrimmed greenery extended around me, neatly tucked in the middle of the endless rows of flowerbeds. In the center of the opening itself, a cracked stone birdbath sat beside a wooden bench. Each object had enough foliage wrapped around it to indicate it had been a lifetime since anyone had sat there, much less tended to this haven. I hobbled out into the clearing, lurching forward too impatiently. Fortunately, when my knees buckled and I was sent swiftly down to the plant life below, the soft grass cushioned my fall.

I panted, hungrily gulping down mouthfuls of the breeze. My forehead came to rest in my palm and steadied my swaying form. The ground still felt like it was moving out from under me, whirling enough to jostle my stomach. I brought my hand down to my mouth then, holding my jaw tight as a dry retch shook me to my bones. Keeping my lips clasped firmly, I fell back onto my bottom and my back bent easily like a sheet of paper. The burden on my spine soaked out of me, deep into the ground and for a moment, I’d been freed. I wanted to sob, to lay flat and still and die right there, but I couldn’t rest. I needed to keep moving. I needed to find my way through the garden and to the door, to possible safety.

Without warning, another sound burst through the silence. A roar of sudden noise. A deafening concoction of an explosion followed closely by a set of screams. They were blood curdling, chilling screams of fear all churned together in one last pitiful gurgle that was swallowed out by the rumble.  
Death’s calling card.  
It ripped through me in a spine-tingling shiver and made me jump in place, almost knocking my heartbeat out of rhythm.

I snapped my head up instantly, my eyes wide with fright. The sound had been so close by, so loud, and yet, I couldn’t quite pinpoint the location as it echoed around me.

 _Had_ _it_ _come_ _from_ _the_ _front_ _of_ _the_ _house?_ The _back?_ _Was_ _I_ _merely_ _seconds_ _away_ _from_ _encountering_ _the_ _same_ _fate?_

I clambered to my feet, fistfuls of weeds in my knuckles as I pushed myself into another staggering, fearful sprint. My blood pumped vigorously in my arteries, washing over my skin in a hot and coaxing scour. I swore I could almost feel tears spill down my cheeks, but every inch of me boiled with the blazing thrum of my pulse. It was like I had been cursed, destined to never know peace again, only the nauseating seesaw of up and down motion.

I ran towards the other side the dell, right back into the wide wall of flowers. My dewy face smacked harshly into the stalks and fronds of the plants as I pushed them roughly out of my way and hurtled blindly through the condensed vegetation. My steps fell hard and uncertain on the soil, one after the other, carrying me somewhere, anywhere.

All of a sudden, instead of ground beneath my soles, I found nothing.  
My legs continued to move as my lips parted in silent shock. The world dropped away and I came crashing down. I yelped out, tumbling down a sandy slope, and my empty hands clawed at the air in a feeble attempt to stop my descent. I grunted with each sharp rock that scraped and dug into my exposed flesh.

A bump, a bang, and at last I was laying on my side, splayed out on a bed of dried leaves with dirt stuck to my damp skin and clothes. I found myself facing yet another blurry scene of grays and browns. I flexed the muscles along my torso in a feeble attempt to move and was met this time with sharp refusal in the form of more familiar pain. My head spun and begged me silently to just give up and give in to my injuries. Whimpering, I lay in a trembling tumble of my own bruised limbs.

Then, there was a crunch of leaves underfoot. Two more followed swiftly after and an odd swooping whoosh briefly teased the edges of my awareness. My eyes, two taut slivers of beige, gradually slit themselves apart to spy the thin silhouette of a body standing over me.

“Found you.”

A voice, as delicate as blown glass and smooth as honey, whistled through the wind.

I couldn’t bring myself to care.  
A warm, fuzzy wave of impending sleep had coiled its invisible tendrils around me and tinged the corners of my vision with darkness. My head lolled to the side in defeat, a sigh of fatigue leaving my lips.

I felt two firm arms slide between me and the ground, one hooking under my knees and one splaying against the width of my shoulder blades. Struggling was out of the question, I could barely do anything but go limp, hanging like broken toy in my captor’s clutches.

I could feel the heat radiating off the figure’s body as they bundled me up to their chest and began to move hurriedly forward. My cheek pressed into the silky texture of whatever clothes this person was wearing and I noted sluggishly that it felt not unlike a downy blanket. That was the final straw as I was swept off into the void of unconsciousness and the throbbing in my nerves became a distant memory.

The last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me was a set of piercing orange eyes, staring straight down at me.


	3. The Power Inside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please Enjoy!  
> If you don’t mind, please leave me some positive feedback or kudos!  
> ♡

I opened my eyes, waking up slowly. My lashes peeled apart like a bandaid from a fresh wound and the light hit me. The world came into focus as I was welcomed back to reality, but in my foggy state all I could make out was the blurry edges of shapes above me and the rays of sunlight falling over whatever I was looking at. I removed my tongue from the roof of my mouth and gasped for my first breath of clear, cool air.

It felt like I had been asleep for months, locked in some dreamless coma that would never end, and I was still in limbo, even then. Everything hurt and burned. That was the first real thought that hung like a storm cloud in my mind. Though, it was surprisingly less pain than the pain I remembered from before.

_Before?_

I shot up in place, which forced my heart to beat fast in my dreary body. The memories returned to me, flashing in my brain one after the other. I had gone through something, a portal, an entrance, some sort of hole and then, I had been chased. I was running, running for my life. I remembered someone had been there, someone had taken me.

I quickly reached up an arm to rub the sleep from my tear ducts. Blinking drowsily, my surroundings became clear.

I found myself in the center of a large, round bed. The covers had slid off my now upright torso to pool around my hips. Those same blankets, I noticed, were a pretty cream color inlaid with a fine yellow silk. Tiny stars were embroidered so delicately there that they might have landed from the sky above and just sunk in, but it was obvious they had taken hundreds of hours to sew. My eyes moved to the wooden bedposts evenly spaced around the spherical mattress. They stretched high up and draped curtains down around the bed to box me in, like a snowdrift, starched white and feathery. The tiffany veil only opened in a narrow part at the front and at the top, in a similar fashion to a skylight. Careening my head further back to the arched ceiling, I could see the beautifully painted drawing of a crescent moon distinctly now. It seemed to be the meeting point of the outward swells of the walls, walls that were obscured by the hefty drapery. I felt small and childish suddenly, inappropriately placed in the middle of such an elegant setup.

A chill caressed my skin and I clutched at the fabric of the blankets in my fists. I looked down at my torso to see I was in fact, not wearing a shirt. Instead, bandages had been wrapped carefully and precisely around the width of my chest and ribs, leaving my shoulders and stomach exposed. Bringing my hands to my head next, I found it had been wrapped in a similar fashion, around my forehead and ears. I dropped my hands and lifted the covers finally, tossing them aside, and was relieved to find I was at least wearing pants. Though, the right leg had been slit up the side to allow access to the limb. Even more bandages had been tied around my thigh, and my ankle had been tightly secured. I curled my toes and attempted to twist my foot. Immediately a sharp pain shot up my calf, making me wince. I huffed in annoyance and abandoned any further attempts to move the joint.

Rolling over, I clambered onto all fours and carefully crawled to the edge of the mattress. When I reached the edge, I lifted a hand to push the drapes aside fully and poked my head out.

The room was average size, but exceptionally tall, with its curving sides forming a dome at the top. Its shape mimicked the shape of the bed, all except for a small alcove, leading out to a wooden door with a triangular window set right in the middle. The walls were sky blue with beautiful murals painted all over them, detailing the patterns of celestial bodies. I noted that whoever had painted the designs knew exactly what they were doing. More interesting still were the furnishings. I had never seen a bedroom with that much furniture in it. The pieces were ornate and dark, sprinkled liberally with vibrant cushions on the chairs and dazzling ornaments for wardrobes or tables. There seemed to be another window behind where the bed sat and it cast the whole room in a golden light.

I stopped gawking at the room’s splendor just long enough to shuffle my bottom to the very end of the bed and tap my bare feet to the floorboards below. It was, after all, an unfamiliar place and I had no clue how I had ended up there. I needed to gain some footing on my location, so I hobbled as best I could across the room to the door. I leaned against the panel and lifted myself up on my stronger foot to look through the window. The glass greatly warped what I could see on the other side of the opening, but I could still make out what appeared to be a hallway. Thankfully, I didn’t happen to see any people in the general vicinity.

I sighed, falling back down onto my heels, and went to try for the doorknob. Just before I finished the motion of turning it, I stopped, realizing one crucial fact. I was exposed, injured, and totally helpless to anyone who would attempt to harm me. I frowned and let go of the brass knob, backtracking into the center of the room. Glancing around the dwelling, I looked for anything I could use to protect myself, some sort of weapon. To my dismay, there didn’t seem to be anything among the random assortments of gilded furniture that I could even consider using. Although, my gaze did fall upon a little cobalt stool tucked behind one side of the bed. Laid out on it, was a neatly folded pile of clothing.

I curiously moved over to the metal seat and crouched down to examine the articles. Gently, I lifted one of the corners of what I soon found to be a shirt, and ran my fingers over the material. It was cashmere and definitely expensive, as every line was woven with a kind of gold thread. It occurred to me, as I went to check the second piece, that someone had placed these here, possibly with the intention for me to find them or wear them, and I retracted my hand like I’d touched a hot stove. I grimaced at the clothing in disgust and stood up, turning back towards the door once more. I was getting out of there, armed or not.

This time there was no hesitation as I turned the knob and pushed the door open with the palm of my hand. It creaked gradually ajar and exposed the hallway in its entirety to me. I cautiously peeked out, looking first to the left and then to the right. The hallway was long, stretching far off in both directions. It was dimly lit by sconces holding flickering candles and each fixture was separated by a door, all of them the same as the one I had just pushed open. The floor was covered with a thick, red rug, whose bristles were stained varying shades of the color from age.

Slowly, I walked out into the corridor. I paused for a moment, making a quick decision about which way to go and started down that route. Every step I took was tentative and I kept my body flat to the wall, inching along. I continued in that fashion, until the end of the hall gradually came into view.

I could hear a faint, melodic humming fluttering down to where I stood. Light from an open doorway flooded the shadowy foyer in a bright, bleached aura and I limped stiffly towards it. Reaching the edge of the entrance, I just barely stuck the top of my head over the bend. I stood still, to the side of the doorway and watched the scene before me with wide eyes.

The chamber was very obviously a kitchen, but the space was cluttered with more than I could take in at once. I wasn’t sure where to look. Crowded, messy cupboards lined the walls and were teeming with tea stained mugs and chipped plates. Little bottles of unknown materials had also been tucked crookedly behind the glass, corked shut. The grease stained granite counters were barely able to hold the countless piles of uncleaned pots and pans. More stacks had even begun to form in certain corners of the curling linoleum flooring. If there was a sink in that room to clean those dirty dishes, it certainly wasn’t visible under all that chaos. From the metal racks on the ceiling, dried vegetables and fruits, plants and other unidentifiable objects were tied with string to hang down below. The little sputtering stove that I could see through the disorder was blazing away at a tall pot of something boiling. The lid was clamped down shut but the sweet fumes from whatever was cooking caused my stomach to churn hungrily. It made me wonder how long I had been asleep, as I could feel the hunger suddenly in every weak portion of my body.

The cheerful singing grew louder without warning and I could hear the clicking of shoe soles on tiling become audible. I reflexively pulled back a bit as a figure stepped into view and approached the pot.

It was a young woman. She was more than a few inches shorter than me but definitely a different breed. On her head, she had a dark pile of blood red hair. Short but unkempt tresses hung around the sides of her round, glowing face, covering her brow, but stopping above her ears to bounce freely when she reached for a wooden spoon. Her full hips were shaped by a pair of grey buttoned up shorts that hugged her waist tight and high and showed off the loose bunches of her purple cardigan. She swayed and danced to her own tune as she lifted the lid off the crock and stirred it. Billowing waves of steam swirled up into the air around her as she mumbled halfhearted lyrics in between her whistling.

I inhaled deeply, shaking my stare off of her and across to the peninsula in the middle of the kitchen. The glitter of the knife-block caught my eye and the largest blade drew a thought into my brain as quick as it could draw blood.

Holding my breath, I quietly stepped into the kitchen. I limped as nimbly as I could to the island and dropped down to a crouch, out of sight. My heart raced in my throat, pulsing violently in my veins with an unquenchable panic. I reached my hand up then, shaking horribly, to the handle of the blade and cringed as I pulled it from the block almost, but not quite soundlessly, hoping the woman wouldn’t hear me. When the tip eventually slipped free, I brought the knife to my chest in a flash, placing my other hand over it. Only then did I let the air leave my lungs.

I held the knife out in front of me, trying to steady my grip by holding onto my wrist. My mouth felt dry, and tasted sour. I wanted to cry, or scream, or run, but I stayed silent and motionless and gathered myself instead.

 _You_ _can_ _do_ _this._ _You_ _can_ _get_ _out_ _of_ _this._ _You_ _will_ _be_ _ok._ _It’s_ _ok._

I mouthed the words with my eyes clamped shut.

I swallowed once and jumped to my feet, racing around the side of the island with the knife raised over my head. A primal yell left my lips, but before I could bring the blade down on what I assumed to be my unsuspecting captor, I faltered and stopped. Shock froze me in place and I stumbled back.

The woman was leaning against the oven with her hip pressed into metal rim, and was looking directly at me, very calmly. Her heavy-lidded, mint colored eyes stared up at me, and a smirk was set into her cheeks, almost jeeringly.

“If you’re going to stab me, do it,” She said. Her tone was flat, but her voice was high and syrupy. “Or don’t. It’s your decision.”

I blinked silently, completely dumbfounded. My hand holding the knife slipped lower bit by bit until it rested at my waist. Before I had a chance to move further, or even try to respond, I picked up on the sound of heavy footsteps running up behind me. I spun around and found myself face to face with someone familiar, standing awkwardly in the doorway. That strawberry face and that mane of blonde locks was instantly recognizable. It was Hoseok.

“I heard a yell! What’s-“ His words fell short when his eyes landed on me, and then trailed over to my fist clenched tight around a silver knife.

“Hoseok?!” I blurted out. An odd concoction of relief, anger and confusion flooded over me. He was the same as the last time I was with him, but just like me, parts of his body had also been swaddled up with bandages and bandaids.

“Anny, you’re okay. Thank the gods, we didn’t know if you were ever-“ Hoseok began to speak and stepped closer to me, but I immediately backed up, raising the knife out to him.  
  
“Where am I?” I rasped, glaring between the two people in front of me, as I tried to steady my rabbiting heart.

“My house,” Hoseok said quickly and lifted his hands up in surrender.

“You _wish_ this was your house,” The young woman giggled and walked across the space between her and Hoseok. When she met his side, she slid an arm around his waist and watched me blankly.

“Wh-why am I here?” I asked, lowering the knife only slightly.

Hoseok and the woman met eyes as soon as I finished my question, holding each other’s gazes for barely a moment before he peered back at me. He seemed uneasy, his fingers curling gently into his palms.

“It’s kind of... complicated. We can talk about it, once you put down the knife.” Hoseok pointed to my hand then, which was still clutching the handle so tightly my knuckles had gone white.

I followed the direction he was pointing and in all my disorientation, my first response was to drop the blade, and so I did. It clattered to the ground and I stood uneasily in place, feeling newly exposed. My eyes misted up and my lip began to quiver shortly after.

Hoseok cocked his head to the side and pursed his own lips, almost in pity of my sorry state. He turned then, brushing the woman clutched to him aside, to head for a wobbly three legged table in the corner. She crossed her arms, holding her elbows in her palms, and studied me quietly as he moved past her. Hoseok grabbed a threadbare blanket from off the back of a chair that was tucked under the tabletop and moved back towards me hastily. I allowed him to approach me this time, too shaken to do anything else, and permitted him to drape the quilt over my shoulders. He held it around my collar until I grabbed at it and could hold it up myself. Then, he placed a hand on my forearm and walked the two of us gingerly over to the table. I sat down in the same seat he’d taken the blanket from.

Hoseok sat down on the floor, beside the chair, and folded his legs into a pretzel shape, resting his arms on his knees. The woman followed behind him and pulled out a chair on the other side of the table. She sat down in it and folded her legs, bringing one around and over the other before leaning back casually.

“S-so... you’re going to tell me now, right?” I muttered.

“Yes,” Hoseok said with a lighthearted grin slapped over his face. “This is Emma, by the way. She lives here with me.” He lifted a finger to gesture to the redhead and when I glanced over to her, she winked at me. I hid my face, but I felt her eyes on me still.

“There’s no easy way for me to say all this,” Hoseok exhaled, his chest expanding as he stole one more look from the woman, who I knew then to be Emma. “So, I’m just going to say it...”

I waited nervously for him to continue, but when he didn’t start to speak, I assumed he was waiting for some sort of confirmation from me and I jutted my chin down in a sharp nod. He mimicked my action happily and wet his lips.

“We’ve been watching you for a while now, starting about a month ago, when Emma and I-“

“And Jimin,” Emma cut him off, leaning in a bit to correct him. She groaned that person’s name like it was something foul.

“Yes, and Jimin,” Hoseok repeated, rolling his eyes. “We were watching you when we noticed that someone else might also have been watching you, someone very bad.”

“Wait,” I interrupted him, furrowing my brow and shuffling restlessly in place. Hoseok cleared his throat and looked me in the eyes patiently. “Why were you... watching me? And who’s Jimin?”

“Let me ask you something instead, Anny.” Emma leaned across the table before Hoseok had a chance to reply, and rested her chin in her palm. He closed his mouth and grumbled something under his breath. “You’ve been able to see things, things no else can see, since you were young, right?” She asked.

My jaw dropped, molding my features into something stupid. I stared at the squishy cheeked girl as though she’d just produced an elephant from her pocket. Her lush rows of lashes fluttered as though she’d seen exactly the reaction she wanted. I resembled a pop-eyed toy from one of those claw machines, perfectly funny.

“Yes,” I squeaked out.

“Well... it’s because you’re special, not just a regular little human. You’re kinda like us,” Emma chuckled, splaying her fingers over the tablecloth with a playful grin.

Hoseok outstretched his foot directly after and kicked her gently, grabbing her attention. He sent her an unidentifiable look and she sent him a simper back, leaning her head down over her arms in submission.

“This may be hard to hear... but me and Emma aren’t exactly... the same as you,” Hoseok mumbled.

“What.. what do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes at him, tilting my head.

“Simply put, you’re a human being... and we’re...” Hoseok paused and his green irises frantically searched the ground beneath him. He threw his hands up a second later, as though trying to find the proper way to say whatever it was he was about to say and the floor just wasn’t giving it to him.

“We’re witches, we’ve got _magic_ ,” Emma said abruptly, “It’s real, we’re real, end of story.”

“Emma, dear,” Hoseok growled this time, baring his teeth up at her from the floor mirthfully.

“Yes?” She laughed.

Hoseok didn’t reply, only stared her down until she turned away from him once more, huffing. He switched to me then, and fixed a strand of hair behind his head. I just ogled him dumbly, agape like a surprised five year old. My brain formulated no other thoughts other than to register that I was in fact shocked. I closed my mouth and looked at my toes before glancing back up to catch his eye again.

“I-I know,” I whispered, so softly the syllables came out broken and strained, “I know that it’s real.”

“Yes, of course. I know you know,” Hoseok cooed, reaching out a hand as though to comfort me but decided against it, falling just short. He looked almost as lost as I felt in that moment, and I didn’t feel quite as alone.

“Anyway... it is true, you do possess a unique ability that caught our eye. We need your help, to be quite honest,” Hoseok admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

“And those bad people? They want you too, want to use you for bad things, _really_ bad things, _against_ _your_ _will_ ,” Emma lifted her head to hiss those words like venom. When Hoseok and her locked eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, she didn’t back down. “So really we’re not all that bad.”

“ _Oh_ ,” I said. Hoseok and Emma both turned to look at me then, as though they’d forgotten I was even there. All other words had left me. I couldn’t will my mouth to move anymore and frankly, I didn’t want it to. It was as if I was stuck underwater, everything was slow and warbled.

“I’m so sorry, I know this must be a lot for you to hear.” Hoseok’s brow scrunched up with worry. I met his round, solid pupils and reluctantly allowed the kind aura they emitted to draw me out from my petrified state.

“I always... kind of knew,” I muttered finally, shuddering on an awful, hitched breath. Letting the quilt slide off me, I brushed my bangs aside with stiff fingertips. My skin felt hot and damp and I could still feel my heartbeat faintly in my ears. “It’s nice, I suppose, to know for sure that it’s really real.” I laughed awkwardly to myself, wringing my wrists out.

Hoseok stood to his feet as I finished speaking and I flinched, watching him. He shoved his fists into the pockets of his worn, grey sweatpants and copied my poor excuse for a smile, only he was more sure of himself, beaming gladly at me.

“I’m sorry also for before, pushing you through my portal and leaving you alone out in the woods. I was only trying to protect you. I didn’t intend to get separated from you,” Hoseok crooned, still holding my line of sight to his expectantly. His smile turned apologetic and mild.

I rubbed at my shoulder, unsure of the proper response. My mouth hung open in preparation for a full minute as I wondered if I did truthfully want to forgive him for that. I decided that anything other than a yes was unfair and settled on the correct phrasing, biting into my chapped lips.

“It’s okay. I think... I get it,” I said.

Hoseok seemed sated by this. I watched his shoulders visibly loosen.

“In the end, _Jimin_ found her anyway,” Emma chimed in and leaned back into her seat, wriggling her spine comfortably against the knotted wood.

 _Found_ _me?_ _Is_ _this_ _person_ _they_ _keep_ _mentioning_ _the_ _owner_ _of_ _those_ _strange_ _eyes_ _I_ _remember?_

“Can someone _please_ tell me who Jimin is?” I begged, becoming visibly annoyed. My voice didn’t shake or stutter this time. I wanted to know. There was too much agitating mystery surrounding the name at that point in the conversation.

Hoseok contemplated me vacantly before his expression cracked and he smirked, thinking to himself. He walked by me and I tracked his motion, still poised for the answers I desired. He came to rest on the end of the table next to me.

“Jimin is the real owner of this house, the person who sought you out,” Hoseok started off plainly, drumming his nails on the dusty varnish. “Jimin is actually the one who ended up saving both our skins out there, I can’t really take much credit at all,” He admitted, sounding embarrassed.

“Oh. can I thank her?” I asked.

Hoseok snorted, bringing his palm up quickly to clasp over his mouth and hold in his laughter. His shoulders shook as I eyeballed him innocently. Emma cackled seconds later, pushing herself back in a gasping shriek that sent her and her chair down to the floor hard. She continued to heave with laughter as she lay there.

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked, bringing a fist to my lips in alarm.

Hoseok shook his head as convincingly as he could, but his cheeks had gone red and tears had begun to prick at his eyes. “Jimin is the _master_... of the house, you see.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” A blush crept up my neck and made my cheeks burn.

“I’m never letting him live that down. Wait till I tell him that!” Emma howled, kicking her legs up into the air above her.

“Emma, play nice,” Hoseok giggled, peering over at her with a fond expression.

“Yeah, yeah, Hosie,” Emma said, catching her breath. She rolled off her chair and climbed to her feet. I watched in awe as she swayed her hand and the chair floated back into an upright position as though an invisible hand had lifted it. She sat back down into it like nothing had happened.

“Anyway, Jimin isn’t really someone who likes to be around other people. I’m not even really sure where he is right now,” Hoseok sighed, gazing off out a dusty window across the room. His features tightened with concern.

“So, what does he need my help for? You said you guys needed _my_ help, that I’m, uh, special or something?” I said, pointing to myself. I looked between the two witches with childlike wonder.

“Well,” Hoseok rasped, scratching at the back of his head nervously. He didn’t seem even half as confident as he did when we met. “We believe you possess a rare power that some humans can have under certain circumstances.”

“What kind of power? You mean the whole seeing weird stuff thing? Cause’ I’ve had that my whole life and, let me tell you, it didn’t do anything to help me out,” I scoffed.

“No, that’s more of a side effect. It’s a little more complicated.” Hoseok fished his hand into his pocket as he spoke and displayed something out to me in his palm. “Here.” He held it right in front of my face.

I immediately recognized its thin, black shape to be the object he’d used during our encounter with those strange suited men. He jolted his hand a bit closer to me, gesturing for me to take it and so I did. I carefully held the item in my hands like it was dangerous, looking to Hoseok warily.

“That thing your holding is a type of artifact called a Vessel. This particular one is in the form of a wand, but they can take hundreds of different forms,” Hoseok explained, tapping his fingertips to the wooden surface before resting his arm at his side. I turned it over in my palm and studied it carefully. “They help people like me and Emma to harness our magic and amplify it. The more powerful the Vessel, the more powerful and refined the magic.”

I glanced over at Emma to see she had also produced a wand from her waistband. Although, hers was light brown and had runic symbols carved along its sides. She was playing with it, circling it in the air above her like she was a conductor.

“I don’t see what this has to do with me,” I huffed, pushing the wand back over into his hands with a shrug.

“Well, the Vessels aren’t always objects... In very rare cases, they can be living things as well,” Hoseok said gently. He relieved the object from me and put it back in his pocket.

It took a second or two for the information to sink in, even though I had understood what he’d meant well enough. I felt my lips part and my eyes fell to stare at my open, pink palms curiously.

“So... I’m one of those Vessels then? And that’s why...” I whispered, trailing off, as I flipped my hands over and over. It wasn’t as though I would see anything different there than the million other times I’d looked at them. Though, having some kind of definition to the chaos of my life was liberating in some way.

“Yes,” Hoseok said, also in a hushed tone.

“Do you need my, um, _powers_ for some magic spell or something?” I gulped, gradually dropping my hands into the bunches of blanket around my midriff.

“Or something. It’s nothing serious, I promise. It’s kind of a good thing, really,” Hoseok assured me.

“A good thing for Jimin, maybe,” Emma snickered.

“It’s more complicated than that and you know it,” He snapped back at her.

“Whatever you say!”

The two of them exchanged fiery grins, ones of endearing exasperation. I observed the soundless way they seemed to devour each other from across the table and for a moment, I forgot they weren’t human. There was something so mundanely primitive about the love I saw in Hoseok’s stare for the eccentric woman that was sat beside me. It was familiar and grounding and almost made me lose the fear that had gripped me so tightly from all the uncertainty that had been thrown at me. I turned away from watching them.

“I still don’t... I still don’t understand how you found me, or how you even knew I was, um, different,” I mumbled, with a lump in my throat. Hoseok stopped sizing up Emma long enough to hear me.

“When you turned eighteen, it marked open season on you. It was then that your abilities stopped being latent and you stopped being just another human. Magic users who know you exist will be seeking you out for all kinds of reasons, and trust me, you’re easy to spot.”

Hoseok kneeled down beside me as he spoke and stared me square in the face. I felt a chill shoot down my spine and a grueling ache settle in my stomach at the dark context of his words. He was dead serious, unblinking and unwavering.

“We’ll protect you, but we also need your help. So, what do you say, Anny?”

“I suppose... I’ll say yes.”


	4. The Fiery Witch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please Enjoy!  
> If you don’t mind, please leave me some positive feedback or kudos!  
> ♡

I stood in front of a tall mirror, staring at my reflection. My clothes and bandages lay in a filthy heap around my ankles. A silver, ornate frame showed off the quality of the mirror itself, letting me know of its antique nature. Although, I didn’t have the ability to admire it in that moment. I was too busy glaring at the red and purple scratches and bruises that lined the notches of my rib cage.

I frowned, twisting my body around in the mirror to identify each inflamed mark. The gashes were already beginning to scab over. I was thankful, but it itched terribly and made each pull on my muscles feel stiff. I wrapped my arms around my waist and walked away from the grand speculum, stepping over the jumble of clothes at my feet.

Last night when the witch, Emma, had offered me food, I was too starved to question it. I scarfed it down like a wild animal and even had the guts to ask for more. According to Hoseok, I had been asleep for three days, so it didn’t totally surprise me. I wasn’t sure if it was mental or physical, but whatever it was had surely taken a toll on me. I felt weak even in that bathroom as I went to sit on the closed lid of the toilet. My joints were still sore, and so was my brain. Trying to process all the new information I had learned that night, as I lay in an unfamiliar bed, made my head spin. I finally fell asleep sometime after midnight and when I woke up I was so groggy I was almost convinced it had all been a dream. It was when I saw the pale yellow moon painted above me once more that I knew it really had happened, that it was all true.

 _Why_ _did_ _I_ _say_ _yes?_

It must have been some flaw in my judgement. Maybe I just wanted to feel special, just for a moment, or maybe I was just plainly dumb. The more I dwelled on Hoseok’s words and my nightmarish predicament, the more sick to my stomach I became. I was so nauseated that I almost lost my appetite. Though I found my body’s desire to survive to be too strong, even for earth shattering revelations, as my midriff let out a deep grumble. I placed a hand over it in a quelling manner and looked up with a sigh.

My eyes fell upon the edge of the clawfoot bathtub in the corner of the tiled room, where someone had laid out a towel and fresh clothes. Heaving myself to my feet, I walked over to the tub almost like a robot on autopilot. I picked up the shirt in my hands and slowly unfolded it. It was the same fancy, grey cashmere sweater that I had found in my room yesterday. I assumed that the dark blue pants I also spotted stretched over the rim of the enamel basin below me, were the same ones I had seen as well. They weren’t nearly as unappealing or baffling to me now as they had been before.

I reluctantly slid my arms into the bottom of the shirt and pulled it over my head. The collar caught around my wild head of hair forcing me to manually remove the tangled locks that were tucked underneath. The material was soft and warm and hugged me loosely. I pulled the neckline up to my lips and breathed into the fabric, closing my eyes just for a second as I stood there. The dark enveloped me and I thought to myself that it was not unlike being asleep while standing. I wished.

After a moment, I heard some footsteps outside the bathroom door and peeked in that direction.

“Everything okay, Anny?” Hoseok’s gentle voice rang out through the wall.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said weakly, lowering my hands to my chest.

“There’s food in the kitchen when you’re ready.”

I heard his footsteps gradually fade off. At the mention of food my stomach growled again, even louder.

I had learned a lot of things that night. Not just the undeniably shocking explanation of my true ‘abilities’, whatever those may actually be. I had learned that Hoseok’s house was actually that odd, haunted house of a mansion that I had seen in the woods. I had learned that I had somehow entered a world different from my own, next to my own, whatever that meant, when I had gone through his portal. I learned that going home meant going to my death, getting captured, getting used. For what? I didn’t really know. I learned that there were a lot of things I didn’t know, about what’s true and what isn’t, what things I should believe in and what I shouldn’t, about witches and magic and all of that. I wanted to unlearn it all, I wanted to know nothing, I wanted to forget it all, all over again.

How was I ever expected to be able to turn Hoseok down, to turn down this man that I didn’t really know and who didn’t know me but had been kind and honest to me all the same. He had checked on me three times that night. He had asked me twice and then three times to make absolutely sure that I was willing to comply with his request, to give him my help, my powers. How could I expect to have anything be easy, or to go my way. It was a fool’s wish, to remember that I was supposed to be a being of free will, who could make my own decisions. It was a foolish thought.

I turned back to the bathtub and uneasily picked up the pants. It only took one accidental stumble into the wall for me to get them on. They were a little bigger than what I was used to, so I sat down on the lip and rolled up the cuffs until they rested above my ankles. I picked up my muddy boots from beside the sink and slid the shoes over my feet. The insides were still damp but were dry enough for me to wear them comfortably. I was glad that at least those ugly, ragged things were still intact. Wearing something that was actually mine helped me keep some kind of grip on reality.

I got up and walked across the bathroom to pick up my dirty, torn clothes and bandages from the ground in one arm, opening the door with the other. The hallway was quiet, and I didn’t see Emma or Hoseok anywhere. I looked down the dim corridor to my right and a wonderful scent hit my nose. It somehow seemed to capture all the aromas of a bakery I remembered from my childhood. The black coffee, the sweet cakes, the Danishes. The concoction was perfection, a perfume so strong and delectable that I was drawn down the red carpet and towards it as though under a trance.

Eventually, I found myself lingering in the same kitchen doorway from yesterday. I spotted Hoseok perched up on a clear portion of the counter, leaning back against the cupboards. In his hands he held a leatherback novel splayed open and was flicking through the pages. He had changed clothes since the last time I had seen him, and for some reason this was surprising to me. It was as though the knowledge of him having some kind of magic to him had made him completely inhuman to me, yet, he looked human enough. He was buttoned up in a high-collared and tight-sleeved white dress shirt and his hair had been pinned back, revealing the expanse of his forehead. The pants he was wearing didn’t quite fit the rest of his attire, dark purple and covered in a fancy sheen of odd designs and markings that made him look like he was wearing a couch cushion.

Next to him, I identified the source of the delicious smell. It was a massive wicker basket filled to the brim with fresh bread, powdered pastries, and dried meats. I spent a moment eyeing it like a hunter eyes its prey before I cleared my throat. Hoseok jumped in place and almost dropped his book. He looked up at me, startled.

“Oh, you scared me. Come have something to eat,” Hoseok said cheerfully, regaining his balance as he beckoned me in.

I swallowed thickly, my throat feeling sore, as I avoided his eyes. Shame was the only feeling I could muster and I surely didn’t want him to see how evident it was in my own eyes.

“Where should I put this stuff?” I said and stepped over the threshold into the room. Holding out my hands to Hoseok, I showed him the array of dirty fabrics.

“I’ll take it. Just go help yourself,” He offered and hopped down off the counter. I allowed him to grab the bundle from me and watched as he walked across the room. He approached a small wooden door on the far left wall and slid it up, before dumping the heap down a chute.

I crept over to the basket of food like a desperate beggar and grabbed the first bun I spotted. It was coated in a light dust of sugar and when I bit into it I hummed happily at the taste. I moved to the table just as pathetically and sat down on one of the chairs. Some part of me questioned the authenticity of the food, whether it had been cursed or not, but the other part of me, the hungry part, didn’t care.

All of a sudden, one of the doors to the kitchen burst open and Emma came running in. The many layers and colors of scarves and shawls that were swathed around her upper body were fluttering frantically around her whirlwind entrance. She looked like a circus tent and moved like a frightened bird and yet she still managed to look stunning and graceful. She slid to a buckling halt and almost fell in the process. I jolted in my seat and the piece of bread in my hand went flying.

“What’s wrong, Em?” Hoseok asked in confusion, turning quickly to her.

“Jimin’s back! He’s _not_ happy!” Emma said, trembling, and pressed her back into the door to close it.

I rushed to swallow just as I heard that name leave her lips and I coughed, choking harshly.

“ _Jimin_?” I croaked.

Hoseok’s face went dark as he hurried over to Emma and wrapped his arm around her side, carefully walking her away from the doorframe and over to the table. Emma sat down into the chair next to me with Hoseok’s help. She looked like she had seen a ghost and her hands were still shaking a bit.

“Did he hurt you?” Hoseok cooed, trailing a thumb over Emma’s jaw. He cupped her neck and pushed her forehead into his lips, multiple times.

“Of course not, he couldn’t catch me,” Emma giggled, swatting at his ministrations, but her voice was recognizably fragile.

“Wh-what’s going on?” I murmured as I went to try and stand up.

“It’s fine,” Hoseok said, reaching an arm out to stop me. I followed his silent command and lowered myself back into the chair. “You two find somewhere safe to go. I’ll handle this.”

He gave Emma one more kiss to her hairline and rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him hard. I stared after him with a stunned expression, before looking to Emma. She had her head cradled in her palm and her eyes clamped tightly shut.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, outstretching a hand to her. I placed it on her shoulder and she glanced over at me. She offered me a halfhearted smirk, as though she’d forgotten I was there.

“Jimin is... honestly terrifying when he’s angry,” Emma said, still rubbing at her temples. She balanced the weight of her body with her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward. “We were supposed to tell him as soon as you were conscious, but Hoseok decided against that. He can be a _lot_.”

“Is Hoseok going to be okay?” I asked and looked over at the door.

“He’ll be fine. Jimin would never hurt him,” Emma said stalely, as though she was partially trying to convince herself. She slowly stood up and straightened out the ruffles of a long, blue shawl that dwarfed her small body, before turning to me with her hands on her hips.

“You two never told me what it is exactly that this guy needs my help for,” I said, gazing up at her from my seat with my thighs pressed together nervously.

“Well... we had hoped to explain it all to you before he came back, but that isn’t exactly doable now,” Emma grumbled. She reached for my hand and I let her grab it. Despite her height, she was able to drag me to my feet with minimal effort. She pulled me forward until I came close to crashing into her, but I caught myself in time. She seemed to find that amusing. “Guess we’ll have to settle for short and sweet!” Emma was grinning at me. I could tell she was trying to calm me down in some way, so I smiled too.

Suddenly, a loud crash came echoing into the room from somewhere down the hall and it scared us briefly out of our smiles. Directly after the noise some distant but very angry shouting could be heard, and Emma turned to it with a worried expression.

“Why don’t we move to that safe place first,” Emma offered, aiming for confident but falling short into frightened. She solidified her grip around my hand and moved past me towards the direction of the door. I was tugged along behind her, tripping over my uncertain feet as she pulled me. “Don’t worry, Miss Anny. It’ll be okay. Jimin really isn’t _that_ terrible,” Emma said just as she palmed at the door handle. She had a new, even brighter, but entirely false grin slapped over her features.

“A-alright.” Unlike Emma, my cheeks had gone pale and my lips had pursed so deep into a frown that my teeth ached. I told myself to trust in that starry-eyed girl, but I was so scared and so confused, and had every reason to be.

Emma carefully pushed down on the handle and opened the door out into the murky hallway. It was completely quiet save for the sounds our feet made hurrying over the maroon rug.

“So, anyway,” Emma started, barely louder than a whisper, as she jogged the two of us down the hall. I struggled to keep up with her as I raised my head to listen, one hand clamped over her wrist on my own to hold myself steady. “Jimin has this sort of rivalry, you see. It’s all he thinks about and all he has thought about since he was a snot-nosed little toddler.”

“A rivalry? What kind?” I asked.

“He wanted to be a powerful and important member of society like all the previous members of his family, but that didn’t go according to plan.” We hit an intersection in the winding halls, and Emma paused to stick her head out into the new wing. She seemed to be checking diligently for something.

“Well, what happened?” I squeezed her palm a bit as a reminder for her that I was still waiting for the next part. She let out a huff at that and yanked us around the bend to the left.

“A witch far more powerful than he is took his title from him. Now he’s obsessed with getting it back.” Emma stopped short at another corner, causing me to walk right into her back. I shrunk back, but she was still too busy surveying our surroundings to notice. “So, he wants to kill that guy someday I believe. I think... that’s part of why he wants your powers,” She said as she went to drag us around the corner for the second time.

My eyes widened then, and my heels dug straight into the ground. “I-I can’t _kill_ somebody!” I exclaimed, loudly enough that it echoed down the hall.

Emma turned around and shushed me quickly as she brought her palm right to mouth and covered it. She looked panicked to say the least, looking this way and that with eyes as round as headlights.

“That... is why we wanted to explain this slowly,” She whispered through her teeth.

I lifted my hand and pushed her fingers down and away from my lips.  
“Is.. is this guy bad at least?...”

“I wouldn’t say he deserves to die by any right, he doesn’t even dislike Jimin. But he and Jimin have a complicated past,” Emma said, speaking fast. She tried to pull on my forearms once more and tug me in the direction she wanted, but I had the advantage on her physically so I stood still and rigid. I stared down at her, and nodded my head at her like I wanted her to continue. She rolled her eyes. “Jimin lost his place as a leader about eight years ago to the guy, it was kinda’ Jimin’s fault though.”

“What did he do?”

“Basically, Jimin used some pretty forbidden magic that he shouldn’t have used, so now he lives in the woods with us,” Emma said, glossing over the finer details in favor of saving time and followed it with a whine that let me know if she had to stand still a moment longer she would cry. I furrowed my brow, not quite satisfied with her explanation, but I still allowed my legs to move all the same and allowed her to practically heave me down the corridor like she intended to throw me.

 _Forbidden_ _magic?_ _What_ _does_ _that_ _even_ _mean?_

We made it to the end of the hall and the walls emptied out into a tall room, one that had paintings of all shapes and sizes covering every square inch of surface area. This room didn’t have a rug on it. Instead, the flooring had been cut and placed in precise shapes to allow it to resemble that of a giant blooming rose, just a few shades darker than the rest of the floorboards. On the far right of the room, the wall had been replaced with a massive stained glass window, bigger than the biggest one in any church or temple. Each leaded section in the ancient glass pane was a new color or a new shape, which cast a rainbow over the deep chestnut wood of the room and made everything seem to swirl around our bodies. I looked around in awe as Emma dragged me to the side and deeper into the room. When my line of sight fell upon the direction we were headed in, my jaw dropped further at the image before me. A large staircase, far too large to be anything but decorative, stood in front of us, heading up to a landing in the middle and eventually to a second floor of the building.

Emma led us up the first couple of steps and they creaked and groaned in complaint. The staircase was battered but beautiful. Although it looked tired and worn down, there were signs it had been loved once, that thousands of people had walked up and down it. Scuffed bronze handrails, dull, iron-swirled balusters, and patches of polished wood shined in the soft colored light of the stained glass window.

Half way up the first section of steps, I spoke, grabbing Emma’s attention. “If Jimin is so terrible, why do you stay here?”

“I’m here for Hoseok really, but Jimin wasn’t always the man he is now,” Emma said, just as we reached the landing in the middle of the staircase.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“There you are.”

Before Emma could answer my question, a clear, fruity voice pulled our attention upwards. At the very top of the steps, I spotted the owner of the voice. A thin, young man leaned with an arm hung over an ornamental column of the banister like a contented house cat. He was perched there to gaze down at us.

I gaped openly at the man as I observed the immediately catching aspects of his appearance. He was fairly small and wiry but he stood out as a bright, fiery beacon against the dreary, dull innards of the house. In fact, he was one brilliant shape of color. His hair was striking, a tousled mane of shaggy, swept-back, orange locks that seemed to rise and settle with each breath he took. He was also covered head to toe in long, flowing robes of beautiful, dark reds and deep ambers. The swooping portions of his vestments barely clung to his narrow frame and seemed to swallow him whole. The robes were lazily draped over his shoulders and parted to reveal the lines of his chest. Over his exposed, peachy skin, the glint of gold pendants and necklaces could be spotted. By far though, the most alluring thing about the fabrics that adorned his body was that they had been embellished with the image of a raging fire which spread between each of his sleeves and the not quite floor-dragging ends around his ankles.

“Jimin,” Emma hissed, glaring defiantly up the staircase at the man. She extended an arm out across my torso and moved in front of me in a protective manner.

“Jimin?” I repeated for a second time, mouthing it almost soundlessly to myself, as I looked back and forth between the two equally glamorous individuals. I felt suddenly like something less than pretty, even more so than I had felt between Hoseok and Emma.

 _This_ _man_ _is_ _Jimin?_ _It_ _can’t_ _be._ _He_ _doesn’t_ _look_ _scary_ _at_ _all._

Jimin’s face looked to have changed from where I stood, from calm to bitter, and he drew his own arm away from the railing, taking his first step down the staircase at the sound of his name. His toes poked out to bear his weight and I noticed that he was, oddly enough, barefoot.

When Jimin grew closer, smaller details I had yet to notice about him became clearer. His features were soft and rounded but stern, turned into something hard by the serious look on his face. Although, a plush nose and plump lips kept a boyish air around him and his dark, scrunched up brows were actually graceful in a way. It was his eyes that really caught me, familiar, blazing spheres of melted flame that pooled unnaturally around pinpoint pupils. I knew them instantly, how they stared down at me with cold judgment and made me feel as though I should have to apologize. His heavy eyelids were decorated in an opulent, reddish tint that only sealed the deal. The glowing rays of the sun that streamed down from the window behind us bathed him in an ethereal light and made his jewelry glimmer. It was like recalling a distant dream. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from him and part of me was glad I couldn’t. The other part of me told me to get ahold of myself and I let out a shaky sigh I wasn’t aware I was holding.

“Running off with the human, are you?” Jimin hummed, a low rumble in his chest. He walked right up to Emma with a sensual elegance and stopped just before her, a living, breathing, crackling flame. She almost took a step back.

“Go to hell, jerk,” Emma hissed, using her free hand to push against his middle, and sent him back a step instead.

Jimin’s eye twitched, and then his expression shattered into anger. With his teeth bared in that way I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“I’ll send you there first!” He growled and lifted his hand up like he intended to hit her. I jumped in place at the motion and nearly yelped.

Emma smiled.

“I’d like to see you try!” She laughed, shoulders bouncing, but didn’t break eye contact with him once.

Jimin’s sleeve slid down his arm and bunched up at his elbow as he lingered in place, exposing the heavily bejeweled rings and bracelets that decorated his hand and made it look like he could barely lift it. From behind Emma I watched as Jimin’s eyes narrowed and his fingers fluttered almost imperceptibly at her words. His hand went to move again and before I even realized what I was doing, I lurched forward and brought myself between the two powerful witches.

“No! Please don’t!” I cried, putting my arms up in front of me in a feeble attempt to protect Emma and I from the strike I presumed we were about to receive. I closed my eyes tight and braced myself.

“What?” I heard Jimin say and I opened one eye. He was looking down at me, a confused scowl on his full lips. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see Emma grinning smugly at Jimin.

“It’s okay, if he wanted to kill me he could have done it long ago,” She said and moved to stand beside me. Wrapping one arm under my bicep, she pulled me back into her side.

Jimin blinked and shook his head a bit, shaking the startled look off his face. “Just give me the human, Emma,” He said and reached out a hand for me, aiming his open palm at my other arm. Right as his fingers brushed the fabric of my sleeve I yanked my arm back and away from him. He retracted his hand then as well, alarmed by my sudden rejection.

“Excuse me, but I am not some object! I don’t even know if I want to help you anyway!” I blurted out, holding my fist close to my chest. Emma and Jimin were staring at me again, even more quizzically. A full minute of them silently gaping at me passed before I tried to speak again in a quieter, more polite tone. “After all... I’m just me. I can’t really do the kind of stuff you want me for.”

Jimin’s expression shifted at that, his eyebrows lifting up as though he found my remark amusing. “You don’t have a choice. I won’t accept anything less,” He said simply.

Glaring at Jimin now, I scoffed, “I absolutely have a choice!” I stomped right up to him to say it into his face. Emma attempted to hold me back, but I tore away from her easily enough. My breath fanned over his face and he blinked once, quick.

Jimin didn’t seem phased at all by my display, his eyes heavy with stoic indifference. He wet his lips slowly and without any hesitation stepped into me. His chest bumped against mine and I gasped, stumbling directly back into Emma who caught me with a hand on my hip.

“A pathetic human like you? Why, you wouldn’t last five minutes without someone to protect you,” Jimin said, spitting each word like venom. He took another slow step towards Emma and I and when we stepped back as well, he continued, walking us across the landing in a predatory manner. His orange eyes bore right into mine and I felt my knees weaken. I swore they seemed to flicker and spark just like a bonfire the longer I met his gaze. “You’d be like a rabbit with its foot caught in a trap, just begging to be _slaughtered_ ,” Jimin jeered at me and as that last word left his lips, my heel hit the edge of the steps. There wasn’t any room for us to back up further save for toppling down the staircase.

Jimin was inches from me then, and I could almost feel the energy radiating off him, the sheer power and blistering heat like the engine of a train. My heart was pounding heavy in my throat and when he smirked devilishly at me, I believed he must have somehow heard it. The panic of him being so close to me with that intimidating look on his face sat on my ribs like a pillow over my mouth. Enough air got in, allowing me the courtesy of life, but it was crippling all the same. I stole a brief glance at Emma and she didn’t look any better off.

Jimin didn’t seem small anymore. In fact, he seemed tall suddenly and I felt like I was shrinking away in his presence, shrinking until, “See, you’re just a scared, weak little human, nothing more.” Jimin chuckled and reached out to me for a second time, the jewels around his wrist clinking together.

“Jimin, that’s e-“

Before Emma could finish speaking, the piercing sound of a sharp slap rent the air and her jaw dropped. Jimin stumbled back, holding his cheek in one hand to cover the stinging, red mark where my hand had smacked clean across his face. He stared at me, completely dumbfounded, with his eyes bulging open like saucers and his lips parted in disbelief. Emma was similarly posed, even more so.

 _How_ _dare_ _he!_ _How_ _dare_ _he_ _accuse_ _me_ _of_ _being_ _weak!_ _He_ _doesn’t_ _know_ _me!_ _He_ _doesn’t_ _know_ _anything_ _about_ _me!_

I was angry. I was practically bristling with rage. If Jimin was smoldering then I was a wildfire of aggravation. My palm burned, but I didn’t care. It felt good to wipe that conceited look off him with the skin of my mortal flesh. I clenched my fist tight and kept it at my side, striding right up to him and this time he crumbled, and backed up like he feared I intended to run him over.

“You... you don’t deserve my help!” I declared with my finger pointed straight out towards him. “No one would help a horrible, cruel, evil man like you!”

Jimin stood still, rigid to the spot, for what felt like an eternity until a discern washed over his features and something else inexplicable flashed in his eyes. He gradually shut his mouth and turned away, still cradling his injured cheek in his hands tenderly.

“Fine. If you won’t help me than you can’t stay here,” He said, far softer than I had heard him speak yet, and he sounded hurt in an odd way.

Emma cleared her throat, gathering herself back in. “You don’t get to make that decision, Jimin,” She said.

“I will make whatever decisions I want,” Jimin snarled weakly, not even bothering to aim it in her direction.

“I’m not just gonna throw her to the wolves and neither will Hoseok! If anyone should leave, it’s you!” Emma declared and slipped briskly forward to stand beside me. A combination of seeing her there and the words she had uttered made me feel like I could relax.

Jimin froze, halting on his next breath. Finally, he sighed and rolled his shoulders back. “You know what, I will,” He huffed indignantly.

Emma’s brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to speak again, but Jimin had already begun to move. He turned and strut forward, brushing between the two of us. He moved as nimbly as when he had first appeared. Halfway down the steps he tilted his head in our direction and his steely stare molded into a foreboding simper that made me shudder.

“Have fun maintaining the barrier without me.”

In a flash, Jimin snapped his fingers and his entire body became enveloped in a thick billowing wall of grey smoke. It swirled and churned up the steps in our direction and spread around our bodies making the air darken and taste of soot. I thought to myself that it was not unlike Hoseok’s smoke, but this smoke burned my lungs and clawed at my eyes far worse than Hoseok’s had. Emma was coughing and gagging and soon I was too. I covered my mouth and backed up into clearer air.

“I hate it when he does that,” Emma grumbled, and swatted her hand up into the air. Following the motion of her hand, the smoke was pushed back like she’d cut through it with a scissors. She did this a few more times until it had dissipated enough for the steps to be visible.

Jimin had completely vanished, but at the base of the stairs, a friendly face had taken his place instead.

“Anny, Emma, there you are! Are you alright?” Hoseok grinned up at us, relief smudged over his features and in his glittering white teeth. He raced up the steps, taking two at a time under his heeled boots.

“Oh, I’m fine. And where were _you_ , Hosie?” Emma teased, displaying the back of her hand out to him.

Hoseok made it to the landing and immediately took her hand in his, like he must have done a thousand times, leaning down to press a slow, firm kiss to the line of her knuckles. “Jimin locked me outside,” He mumbled into her skin.

“You fell for that _again_?” Emma tittered.

Hoseok rolled his eyes and rose back to his full height, dropping her hand. He directed his attention onto me then. “Anny, are _you_ okay?”

I stood there nervously, rubbing my palms into my arms, and sunk my teeth into my bottom lip. “Oh, uh, yeah I’m okay.”

Hoseok seemed to notice my obvious unease and looked back to Emma for an explanation.

“Anny here, stood up to Jimin and scared him off,” Emma hummed giddily and slipped past Hoseok, over to my side.

“Hah! Really? Is this true?” Hoseok laughed and brought his hands up to fit upon his hips. He cocked his head to the side, smirking at me almost proudly.

“Oh yeah, she told him where he could stick it, that she wasn’t gonna help his sleazy behind!” Emma exclaimed, and practically jumped onto me, wrapping her arms around my neck to pull my head up to hers. Her eyes were two thin, happy creases in her face. “Can we _please_ keep her?” She looked to Hoseok then, pressing her warm cheek into mine. I held onto her wrist, fearing if she dug it any deeper into my neck she would cut off my circulation and I would meet my demise right then and there.

“You’re... you’re not going to throw me out now?” I asked softly.

“I- of course not. We’re not monsters,” Hoseok said with earnest. He seemed taken aback my comment, almost offended in a way, and tucked his chin down into his neck.

Emma snickered. “I don’t know, Hoseok, Jimin is pretty-“

“We’re _not_ ,” He hissed, glaring at her. She hid her face into the junction of my neck, but I could feel her smirking there.

I wiggled in her grasp until I eventually was able to peel her off of me, but her focus had drifted to Hoseok, so she didn’t seem to care. She trailed over to his side and prodded her fingers into the spaces of his hand to intertwine them there.

“We’ll figure this out, but I _should_ probably go after Jimin,” Hoseok said, not looking like he was particularly excited about the implications behind that.

“I don’t know, I don’t feel his energy at all anymore and with the barrier-“

“Yeah, I know,” Hoseok sighed.

“What is that anyway? The barrier?” I asked, slipping my soft question in between them.

“Come, I’ll show you,” Hoseok said, turning to head back down the staircase. He dragged Emma after him by her hand.

It didn’t take the two witches very long to escort me through the numerous, long halls of the mansion, turning down corners and around bends until we had stopped outside two large oak doors. They nearly took up the entire length of the wall and stretched far up to the candlelit ceiling. Emma pushed them open with one hand on each handle and they creaked open to welcome the excitable young witch inside.

Hoseok and Emma ushered me in and I looked up to the ceiling. The room must have been over twenty feel tall. It’s ceiling was carved with illustrious images of fruit, flowers and little cherubic children with dainty wings peering down at us. Besides for that the room which resembled a ballroom of sorts was fairly empty and plain. The only object which caught my eye and the only object that was even in the room was a fireplace at the far end of the great hall. We seemed to be headed straight for it.

The three of us approached the fireplace and I noticed its beauty now that we were up close. The mantel was adorned filigree silver which was the surround for every sharp, straight portion of the pillars and under-mantle. Although the firebox itself was currently cold and sterile, scorch marks scattered around its insides let me know it’d been kept burning often.

“When It’s lit, it protects the mansion from the forest,” Hoseok said, breaking through the silence. I glanced up at him. He was staring sullenly into the desolate hearth.

“Why does the mansion need protecting from the forest?” I asked.

“This specific forest is incredibly dangerous, especially so at night, and Jimin uses his magic to keep the house protected,” Hoseok explained, tracing his hand along the iron trimmings.

“There’s a reason we don’t get visitors over here. I don’t see why we couldn’t have just bought a lovely house in the capital, or in another less _cursed_ forest,” Emma grumbled. She leaned back and rested against the mantel, lolling her head along the upper shelf.

 _The_ _capital?_ _Another_ _forest?_

“Wait, there’s more to your world than just the forest and house?” I gasped and Emma and Hoseok looked at each other blankly before they both burst into laughter. I let out a huff at that and crossed my arms, pouting.

“Obviously we’re not the _only_ witches that exist. We have a whole world just like yours, with cities and towns and all that good stuff,” Emma said, giggling through each word.

Hoseok swatted at her, noticing only as his laughter began to die down that I was glaring daggers at the both of them. “Yes, and our country is called Avalon, just like any other,” He added.

“Oh.” I replied, feeling awkward and out of place and not knowing what else to respond with.

“But anyway, we can’t light this damn thing again without Jimin’s help,” Emma grunted, kicking the firebox with the end of her shoe in a sudden bout of frustration.

“It’s unfortunate but true, and we don’t have much time to figure out a solution,” Hoseok muttered, bringing his fingers to his chin. His forehead crinkled up in deep thought and he moved to mimic Emma. Stretching against the stone sidings of the fireplace, he allowed himself to slowly slide down the wall until he came to sitting position on the floor beside the firebox.

“We can’t protect you if we’re all dead by morning,” Emma said, and it didn’t sound like she was joking at all. I hoped she was joking. She spun around on her heel and pranced over to Hoseok. “I’m going to go see if any of the tomes in the library have anything that can help us.” She crouched down to sear a kiss into the swell of his cheek.

“Alright, dear.” He gave the cup of her elbow a gentle squeeze. She stood up and was off with a surprisingly cheerful skip in her step.

I watched Emma strut across the room to the gaping doorway before rounding the corner. Just as the last fluttering edge of her longest gossamer scarf disappeared out into the hall, Hoseok let out a sigh and I turned to look at him.

“I’m sorry about Jimin. I didn’t want it to go that way. He really is a handful sometimes,” Hoseok said. His voice was raspy and low making him sound like he hadn’t slept in days.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I was hoping maybe this could be a change for him, that him needing your help would work in his favor.” He shrugged.

“How so?” I rested the weight of my upper body on my knees and folded myself down to his level.

“Jimin doesn’t really understand people or how to deal with them. I was hoping maybe you could force him to finally change in that way.”

“ _Me_? Change _him_?” I chuckled and looked to the ground, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry but that doesn’t make any sense and no offense, but Jimin doesn’t really seem to be a changeable person.”

Hoseok didn’t laugh at my comment, he only smirked to himself, but his eyes looked sad in a way. “Humans are so different from us, in ways even I will never truly understand. They can be so accepting, so loving, so flexible, things I wish for Jimin to learn how to be,” He said quietly and went to steal a glimpse of my expression. He saw the innocence in my bewildered gaze and his smirk stretched higher into his cheeks, a little more sure. “When he was young, I think, he was very very human indeed.”

“Really?” I asked, leaning towards him.

“Jimin didn’t have an easy life growing up. He was hated by a lot of people for reasons he couldn’t control, he got attacked a lot. Usually I had to come to his rescue,” Hoseok snorted, calling to mind some distant memory unknown to me. The absent look on his face faded without warning and his eyes lowered, as though a cloud had passed over his features. “A lot of people Jimin loved have died, and he got blamed for that too... He got called a ‘cursed child,’” He said, shaking his head.

I shuddered at the mention of that insulting nickname as the memories came back to me swiftly. I recalled the horrid years of my childhood, the endless years of bullying, the inability to explain to anyone why I was staring off into the corner without being called a ‘freak’ or a ‘psycho,’ even by the neighbors. It occurred to me then, that all that trauma was the reason I had cut everyone off. It was the reason that after the death of my mother the only person I ever confided in was myself. It was the reason I was so secluded in my actions, so scarce in trusting others.

“He’s not so harsh for no reason I assure you. I think... If he had just been shown a little love he wouldn’t have become so cold,” Hoseok sighed.

“ _No_ _one_ _would_ _help_ _a_ _horrible,_ _cruel,_ _evil_ _man_ _like_ _you!”_

I looked down at my folded knees and frowned as a wave of guilt washed over me. It made my mouth dry and my stomach church.

I seemed to understand Jimin a little better in that moment and yet, it didn’t feel good at all. I understood him just enough that the guilt turned to ice in my guts, forcing me to regret my choice of words, my choice of actions in slapping him across his face. Although with his vile behavior, he had honestly deserved it.

“I understand, I think,” I said, looking up to Hoseok finally. “Actually, he sounds a lot like me.”

“Is that so?” He asked, seeming a bit surprised in the quirk of his lips and the slight lift of his emerald eyes.

“Yeah, people didn’t like me either because of things I couldn’t change. They thought I was weird because I saw things they couldn’t.” I wrung my wrists together restlessly as it dawned on me that it was actually the first time I had ever discussed that with another person. It didn’t feel bad to say it aloud, but it wasn’t particularly pleasant either. It was like ripping a bandaid off.

“So... I guess I kind of gave up on people too, in a way,” I muttered.

When the guilt came again to haunt me I took in a short breath as it hit me full on. A thought popped into my skull immediately after and ground at the back of my mind until all I could do was accept it. The painful urge to apologize.

“I see, that’s pretty-“

“I can’t help Jimin in the way he wants me to, I can’t kill someone,” I cut Hoseok off, placing my hands in front of me to bring myself back into a standing position. He looked even more puzzled now, peering up at me from the floor. “I’m just me, and I’m not cut out for any of this. I may look calm but believe me, I’m freaking out.” I gave him the most genuine smile I could muster, but my palms were sweaty and I was sure the uncertainty in my words was palpable.

“I- um, I believe you but-“

“I’m really sorry, but you don’t have to protect me. That’s my burden, not yours.” I bowed gently to him, dipping my head down. This time when I cut Hoseok off he looked simply dejected, letting his shoulders go slack.

“It’s not a burden, Anny. We do want to help you,” Hoseok crooned as I lifted my head back up. He planted a palm firmly to the wall behind him and raised himself to his feet.

“Thank you, but it was my comment to Jimin that made him leave and my comment that put you and Emma in danger,” I huffed, rubbing at the back of my neck.

“Emma was exaggerating really, we always end up figuring this stuff out.” He insisted, stepping up to me. Staring off to the side, I only realized Hoseok had grabbed for my hand once he was holding it snugly. “It’s kind of Jimin’s fault for not being able to handle conflict, really.”

I perked up at the sound of Jimin’s name and I grabbed quickly back at Hoseok’s hand, startling him. “Where is Jimin now? Do you know? I’d like to apologize to him, and get him to come back. It’s not fair that you two be put in danger because of my mistake.”

Hoseok pursed his lips, and let go of my hand so he could fold his arms across his chest. He seemed tense as he swallowed and licked at his lips. “I’d take you to him... but Jimin is likely no longer in an area that I can bring you to and ensure your safety.”

“That’s okay, I can handle the risk,” I assured him.

Hoseok didn’t seem totally convinced, eyeing me up and down, but at the unwavering, driven gleam in my eye, he caved. “If you say so.”

“So, where has he gone?” I asked.

“When he hides away like this he’s usually in... the Red Swamp,” Hoseok said, carefully uttering each syllable like he was painfully prepared for me to follow each one with another question.

Instead of questioning it, I decided finding out as I went would save a lot of time, time that we desperately needed if we were supposed to get that aggressive flame of a man back before dark. I had learned so much, digested so much over the last two days that I was beginning to lose the shock that hit me each time Emma or Hoseok dropped something new on me.

The promise of an impending death hung heavy over my head as I fit my hands to the slender ambit of my waist and stood up tall, but I still managed to give Hoseok my best determined stare. It was one I often gave myself in my mirror when there was no one else but me to cheer me on. I thought we both needed it then.

“Then that’s where we’ll go!”

 


	5. A Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please Enjoy!  
> If you don’t mind, please leave me some positive feedback or kudos!  
> ♡

“Are you ready to go?”

I stood on the edge of the porch, gazing out into the forest. Brilliant shafts of sunlight broke through the tightly knit rows of trees and caressed the carpet of dead leaves beneath. The air smelled sweet of birch and damp like fog when I took a breath.

It had only been a few days and yet it felt like it had been a hundred years since I ran for my life through those woods.

I blinked out of the trance I was in, my eyes focusing on the tall shape of Hoseok standing in front of me. He stuck out his hand to me from the bottom of the stoop and I rocked on my heels, swaying under the overhang of the mansion while I considered him. With the way he was dressed still, all fancy and tiffany in his tight shirt and loose pants, it seemed impossible that he wasn’t freezing. The coat I was wearing wasn’t mine and yet it fit me flawlessly, snug and comfortable. The scarlet wool conformed to the curves of my waist too precisely. It kept me warm, but I missed my lousy old sweatshirt that had one too many holes in it and hung off me like it wasn’t made for a human being.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said.

When I hopped off the porch and brushed his open palm aside, Hoseok laughed. His breath came warm into the cool air and formed a swirl of white mist.

“I think it’s quite valiant of you to go after Jimin, considering what Emma told me he said to you,” Hoseok said out of nowhere as the two of us took a few steps away from the mansion.

I shrugged and stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Oh, well I just thought about what you told me really.”

“And what did I tell you exactly?” Hoseok asked. He slowed us to a halt about halfway across the clearing.

“That if he had just been shown some kindness he wouldn’t have been so... y’know,” I said, kicking at a round stone that was unfortunate enough to find itself in front of me.

Hoseok contemplated my words and a discern moved over his features, followed by a smile. “So you pity him, then. Is that it?”

I narrowed my eyes at him and opened my mouth to protest but I quickly shut it when I realized he was pretty much right. “Yeah, that’s it,” I admitted bitterly.

Hoseok snorted. He seemed proud of himself.

I looked away from Hoseok and peered back towards the mansion. The sun hung low in the sky, behind the roof and towards the west. It made everything just a little more pretty and golden, but also a little more ominous. I wondered if it was autumn in this world or if the forest just looked red, yellow, and spotted grey like that all the time here.

“Where’s Emma?” It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t seen her since she’d skipped off.

“She’s staying behind. She needs to place warding on the house in case we don’t succeed,” Hoseok replied.

I found myself worrying for her safety but I brushed that thought aside. It felt odd and unfamiliar to worry about someone who wasn’t me, especially someone who probably had the power to kill me with a snap of her fingers. I shuddered.

“So... how are we getting to this Red Swamp place anyway?”

When I made it a point to look into Hoseok’s eyes they seemed to gleam in the light, like two spheres of jade, full of mischief. I felt a little thrill of fear, like I was missing something.

“We’re gonna fly,” He giggled.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “In a plane?”

Hoseok laughed again, like the sound of bells chiming, and it echoed out into the trees making my ears ring. It seemed like he was always laughing at something. “No,” He said.

I would have asked him to explain, like I had asked probably a hundred times before, but I found my jaw had suddenly gone stiff as had the rest of me.

Hoseok was glowing. He was very plainly glittering with a pale, silvery light from the bottoms of his shoes to the top of his head and his blonde hair swirled in the air around him like it was a separate being.

I gasped and took a step back, tripping over something which sent me down to the ground, right on my behind. All I could do was stare with a mixture of fear and astonishment, eyes locked on him and the thin smile that was still etched into his cheeks.

Hoseok’s skin seemed to expand and ripple as he bent forward. His arms had grown, extending down into long grasping talons that hit the dirt in front of his feet with a thud. The gleaming grin on his face shifted and stretched as he turned into something far less than human, something with a long, flowing mane, two slender horns and a sharp-toothed snout. Finally, the light that surrounded him swallowed up the entirety of his body and clothes in a bright, shimmering wave, elongating his torso and leaving behind a coat of golden fur from the pointed ends of his catlike ears to the tip of an immense tail that thrashed into the breeze behind him.

I sat as still as possible, but my open eyes fluttered tearfully. I couldn’t help but lock gazes with the opposing pair of familiar green eyes that were placed so impossibly in the middle of that massive face.

“Don’t be scared, It’s me,” The creature growled in an attempt to assure me he was still the dashing young witch I knew. He did sound like Hoseok, but deeper, gruffer, and his words were laced with a rumble that reverberated through the whole length of his body.

“Please don’t eat me,” I pleaded, voice shaking.

“I would do no such thing,” Hoseok said, but I was still cautious to believe this giant, serpentine creature was actually Hoseok. He took a step towards me, claws digging into the earth, and I flinched violently away. I brought my arms up in a cross in front of my face to protect myself.

Hoseok seemed to stop when he saw this and instead of taking another step forward, he folded one of his front legs at the wrist and kneeled down, bowing his head to me. His wet nose brushed the ground and the dirt swirled away as he exhaled. I gaped at that display, lowering my arms just enough that I could see it clearly. It was hard to convince myself what I was seeing was actually real.

“Hoseok?” I asked, stupidly, as though hearing it from within those pearly white fangs would make it any more believable. I saw the long tail at the end of his body wag a little.

“Yes,” He said.

I finally dropped my hands down to my sides and hesitated there, waiting for this to be a joke, some kind of magical illusion or a spell. Though, I wasn’t sure that would have been anymore comforting. Nothing changed so I warily made the decision to scramble to my feet. Hoseok saw this and unfolded his legs to also stand back at his full height which startled me. I lost my balance and teetered back.

Hoseok acted quickly and rushed across the ground between us. He caught me, his snout hooking under my arms just before I came crashing down. It happened so quickly that I barely recognized the fact that I was touching him until my fingers were curling into the soft texture of his pelt. I almost went to pull away, acting on instinct, but instead, I found myself in stunned awe of him. The fantastical thing he had become was sort of beautiful up close in the way his fur shined and the terrifying power of his every tiny movement. It was a welcomed change of heart from the fear that had gripped me moments ago so I didn’t question it and when I brushed a palm experimentally over the soft triangle of his ear we both seemed to relax.

“What are you?” I asked, continuing to stroke him.

“What do you think I am?”

“You look like some kind of freaky, mutated cat.”

Hoseok chuckled and the noise sounded like thunder. “I’m a dragon,” He said.

I pouted, feeling a little confused. “I thought you were a witch.”

“I’m both.”

“Are all witches also dragons?”

“No, just me.”

“Oh,” I said.

I felt like the word dragon should have shocked me, but the fact that I was already touching something which had materialized right in front of me was enough of a shock. Without the slightest hint of subconscious agency, I continued to brush over him with my hands, which felt strangely dreamlike.

Hoseok turned away from me suddenly and I flinched. He shook his head like a wet dog and continued the motion down his body to his tail. When he was done, he lifted his head up to look me in the eye. “I can take you to Jimin now, but only in this form,” He said.

I scrunched my nose up. “Does that mean I have to sit on you like a horse?”

“I’d like to think I’m a little more regal than a horse,” Hoseok said, sounding offended, “But yes.”

“I dunno. Won’t I fall off?” I asked, slipping a hand uneasily over the back of my neck.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “No. I wouldn’t let that happen.”

I decided to stop questioning him for fear of offending him further. Death by dragon didn’t exactly seem fitting for my tombstone. Silently, I considered his words, considered how badly I really wanted to apologize to Jimin. I tried to remember the exact reason I had been so determined to run off blindly into an unknown magical world with a witch, or a dragon, or whatever he was. I tried to remember if it was a good enough reason.

It was.

I groaned audibly and Hoseok looked curiously concerned. “Okay fine, but you’ll have to bend down. I’m too short,” I muttered.

Hoseok crouched wordlessly, but he was grinning all the same. He tucked his legs under him until his stomach brushed the grass and kept his muzzle facing the ground, which made me feel a little calmer. I approached the side of his body and ran my hands hesitantly over the width of his back, feeling for something to cling to. The thatch of hair that was spread along the ambit of his spine caught well enough between my fingers so I dug them in deep. I pulled my body up to his ribs and struggled to swing my leg over his side, falling just short. When I went to try again Hoseok suddenly dropped and came back up directly under me. I yelped but the sound came out strangled. He effortlessly shouldered me onto his torso and I clung to the sides of his ribcage for dear life.

“Are you alright?” Hoseok asked, twisting his neck back to look at me.

“Yes,” I managed to say with a mouthful of fur.

“Hold on tight then,” He said but I had already obeyed, digging my heels and nails in so deep that it had to hurt.

Hoseok started to walk. He took a few steps and pranced forward, breaking into a trot. I squeezed my eyes shut and kept my face pressed firmly into his mane. “Oh god,” I whispered, sliding out of my panicked state just long enough to think that agreeing to this might have been a bad idea.

Before I had a chance to process it, Hoseok leapt straight up into the air and my stomach lurched with him. I held on as best I could and waited patiently for us to fall back down, but we never did. A burst of cold wind whipped at my hair and burned my cheeks and the feeling of Hoseok’s spine curving and twisting subsided.

“Open your eyes, Anny,” I heard him say.

Reluctantly, I peeled one eyelid from the other and gazed out at my surroundings. What I saw took my breath away in a little gasp and I lifted my head up from Hoseok’s fur to see it clearer.

We were terribly high up in the sky but I had no room to be frightened. I was too amazed by how the clouds parted in the breeze to reveal the world beneath them. The ground was alive with little lights, like someone had taken a handful of glitter and thrown it over everything. Even with the rapidly setting sun I could make out the individual houses lying in little towns between thick patches of reddened forests and with silvery paths connecting each one. Far in the distance, past the houses and towns and such, I could see what could only be considered a castle, stretching up past the yellow skyline with its many dark, spindly towers. It was set right in the middle of a glimmering city of similarly crooked buildings. The whole landscape looked like one living, breathing, glowing organism.

“Wow,” I said softly, “it’s all so beautiful.”

Hoseok giggled. “We’ll be landing soon. Don’t forget to keep holding on.”

I nodded vaguely, my eyes still wider than my mouth, and tightened my fists into his fur.

We soared for a few more minutes before Hoseok gradually began his descent, but I could have stayed up there for hours if I had a choice. It was wondrously beautiful and I was actually glad that there was something about this world that didn’t immediately terrify or confuse me. When I finally peeled my eyes away from the horizon I saw that the ground below us was approaching far too quickly. At the last second, I realized we were about to crash right into the canopy of a forest.

“Hoseok wait!” I yelled, and then tugged back at his scruff, hoping it would stop him.

It didn’t.

I let out a harrowing screech as we barreled directly into the boughs of the trees, twigs and leaves slapping me in the face on the way down. With great effort I managed to flatten myself against Hoseok’s back and brace myself for impact or what was likely to be my impending death. Although, instead of being crushed into a bloody pancake Hoseok stopped us short, a few feet above the forest floor, and gently drifted the rest of the way down.

I was practically vibrating with adrenaline by the time Hoseok reached his slender claws around to pry me from the coils of his body. He dropped me beside him into a bed of dead leaves as gingerly as possible. I gasped out little choked breaths of air and pulled at the fabric of my jacket like it trying to suffocate me.

“We’re on the ground now. You’re safe,” Hoseok said.

Even though I could barely manage to breathe I could manage to roll my eyes well enough, and I did. I rolled them long and hard and purposefully up at Hoseok, who only snorted in reply. I watched him take a step forward and saw that with each step he took he started to shimmer more and more until I could see right through him and then he dissolved. His whole body disintegrated and blew away in little iridescent pieces with the breeze. In the place of a dragon stood the same human shape of a man that I recognized more willingly to be Hoseok. He was smiling joyfully as he skipped back up to me and gave me his hand.

“Come on then, and put those pearly whites away,” Hoseok said, still grinning.

I stared at him and then his hand before I shut my open mouth quick with embarrassment. Reluctantly, I placed my palm in his and let him drag me to my feet. I dusted my pants off and followed swiftly behind Hoseok as he began to walk.

We trudged silently through the forest for a while. The yellow and brown leaves rustled in the wind overhead and the sound of tree trunks creaking against one another drowned out our footsteps. I felt awkward in the silence and so I hurried my pace to run up alongside Hoseok.

“Where are we going exactly?” I asked, looking up at him and nearly stumbling in the process.

“To the Red Swamp. I told you already,” He said plainly.

“Well, are we going to get there soon?” I huffed.

Hoseok suddenly stopped walking and I tried to halt myself as well but this time I actually did trip. I fell over my ankles like they were lead weights and managed somehow to gather myself up in the most ungainly way possible. When I looked back to Hoseok, he had his bottom lip trapped in between his teeth like he knew that if he laughed at me it would be his downfall. The glare I was shooting him definitely assured him of that. He freed his lip with a small sigh and motioned with his head past me, jutting his chin out. I followed the motion with my eyes and squinted ahead to where I could see the forest begin to thin out. Curiously, I approached the clearing with Hoseok right on my heels.

The trees became scarcer and scarcer and the leaves and dirt under my boots turned into cobblestone. Hoseok and I were standing right at the edge of a town. The road we were stood upon was as dark red and winding as a vein and on either side of it stretched rows of tall, crooked buildings in all varieties of color. Each one was different from the other, borrowing architectural marvels from different eras and cultures and yet they all fit together perfectly. From every sloping roof was hung a paper lantern, just as crimson as the road below and lit up with a flickering candle that cast a fiery hue over everything in sight.

I began to walk further into the street, as though under a trance, but a firm hand caught me before I could and I turned to see Hoseok beside me with his wand out. He slid it through the air in front of him like he was opening an envelope and from the line he drew a dark, billowing cape of sorts appeared, slipping right out of thin air like it had always been there. It drifted down and he caught it on his forearm gracefully.

“What’s that for?” I asked, reaching out to touch it.

“Keep your voice down,” Hoseok said urgently. He took the fabric in both hands and draped it over me, pinning it together in front of my neck. It swallowed me up in darkness, all the way down to my feet, and the hood hung low over my eyes. “I wasn’t joking before when I said you’re easy to spot. Bringing you here is a great risk so we’ve got to be discreet.”

I lifted the hood up with one hand so I could look Hoseok in the eyes. “This is too big on me.”

“That’s the idea,” He said, taking my free hand in his.

We walked slowly into the street, passing under the radiant glow of the lanterns above. The further we moved down the road the more I began to see other people walking around. It was unsurprising that they all seemed to be dressed as elegantly as the three witches I’d met so far, though not quite as eccentric as Jimin. With their dangly jewelry and fancy, flowing clothes I assumed they too were witches. Each time a pedestrian passed by too closely, Hoseok would rein me in tight at his side and briefly hesitate in place. The silvery melody of their conversations drifted through my ears as they ambled past. I managed to catch eyes with one or two of them, vibrant orbs of color unlike the eyes of any human face I had seen before.

Eventually Hoseok brought us to a definitive stop outside an open doorway. It was covered by hefty curtains instead of a door, each one displaying the painted image of a sunset. The building itself was tall, thin and dark in color with an array of brightly lit candles hanging hazardously from every edge on its front.

“We’re here,” Hoseok whispered.

“This doesn’t look like a swamp to me. Are you sure Jimin’s here?”

Hoseok pointed to a sign hanging on a thick iron chain from the overhang. “It’s the name of this place, not an actual swamp,” He explained before taking his chin between his fingers. “I suppose I did forget to mention that.”

I squinted at it but the writing was impossible to read. It wasn’t any language I’d seen before. “If you say so.”

Hoseok brushed the curtains aside and led us into the building. We had to part through four layers of curtains before we were finally standing in the foyer of a long, narrow room. The walls were lined with more open doorways with even more drapery strung over each one. The air smelled sweetly of incense which was hung from pans between each doorframe and just beneath the ceiling swirled an array of brightly colored smoke trailing up from them. Right at the front and to the left of us, behind a desk, a shapely young woman with short black hair lounged over the countertop scribbling something in an open book. She didn’t seem to notice us. Behind her, an open doorway led into what appeared to be a busy kitchen, men in white outfits running around with plates of food on every arm.

Hoseok dragged me along, deeper into the hall, passing by each concealed opening without faltering. From every room we passed I could hear either the gentle mumbling of discussion, bouts of cheerful laughter or faint music playing.

“Is Jimin in one of these rooms?” I asked, struggling to keep pace with him.

“Yes, just ahead,” He said. His brows were pushed tightly together in what looked like an expression of worry.

We reached the end of the hall and were met by a staircase that descended into a dimly glowing light. Hoseok didn’t pause. He hauled me down the staircase behind him with his hand still strong around my own. I felt not unlike a puppet being strung along. The light became brighter and brighter until we reached the bottom and I had to raise my arm over my eyes to protect them as they adjusted.

“Wait right here,” I heard Hoseok say and then he was walking away from me.

With enough blinking and squinting my eyes focused and I found the display in front of me staggering enough that my entire face turned bright red.

The room wasn’t too large but it was filled to the brim with wide china plates, each one stacked on the other and dirtied from the food they’d likely held. In the center of the towering circle of dishes was a thick pile of silk duvets, all shimmering and sparkling with beads and gems sewn in at the ends, and in the center of all that, was Jimin.

He was sprawled out in his nest of blankets with his flame-colored hair sitting in a disheveled mess around his face, swooping down to partially obscure his piercing eyes. Although what had shocked me the most wasn’t his intense stare, it was that his robes were in a similarly messy state, removed from his upper body and barely clinging to his lower half. In his exposed state, I could see everything. He wasn’t the scraggly little nothing under his vestments that I had assumed he was. His body was still thin but visibly brawny. Every muscle was toned tight over his arms, chest, and abdomen like he had been carved from clay. He was sculpted like a martial artist, or like a dancer perhaps, and when I saw him take a deep breath a picture of him performing a tango flashed through my mind. I felt embarrassed suddenly, less because I was imagining odd fantasies of a man I’d only just met and more because I was so visibly flawed with my damaged, ratty skin in comparison to his flawless body, glittering under his gold bracelets and medallions.

I did spy one particularly odd thing about his appearance though. It was a mark, not unlike a tattoo, but darker and uglier, twisting up in a spiral-like shape on the left portion of his chest like a scar that hadn’t healed properly. It wasn’t otherworldly or beautiful like the rest of him. It was out of place, so much so that I was sure he wouldn’t have put it there himself.

Hoseok stood over Jimin, looking down at him in a disapproving manner. Jimin held his stare right back like a disobedient five year old. He propped his body up with one arm as he sipped from a dish filled with an unknown purple drink.

“Running away? Really Jimin? What are you, a child?” Hoseok hissed as he nudged Jimin’s side with the toe of his boot.

“What do you want?” Jimin asked, ignoring him. His smirk was sweet and slender on his plump lips but his eyes held a silent threat.

Hoseok gestured to Jimin’s decadent state. “This is shameful. You’re out here feasting and drinking away while you put us all in danger. Over what? A human girl who didn’t have the same courtesy to treat you like the ground you walk on is gold?”

Jimin’s brow dipped downwards and his smiled melted away. “She’s just another spoiled, stubborn brat. She refused to listen to me even when I was offering her protection. She even _hit_ me,” He grumbled, taking another sip from his drink.

“A spoiled, stubborn brat. Now why does that sound familiar.”

“I can kill you, you know.”

“I’m well aware, you keep reminding me,” Hoseok said, rolling his eyes, “But how about instead... you return with me to the manor.”

“No, I’m perfectly happy here,” Jimin said, turning over onto his side.

“You can’t always do what you want, Jimin.” Hoseok toed him again, harder this time, right in the base of his spine and Jimin sat straight up.

“I can drink if I want to! I can kill if I want to! I _can_ and _will_ do what I please!” He yelled, and I jumped in place. Even from across the room Jimin was a frightening individual.

Hoseok had a tightness in his features that was indescribable as anything short of disappointment. “Do you want to see your family home ruined, what little you have left ruined? What if I was to be hurt, or Emma even?” He asked softly.

“I don’t care.”

I felt a twinge of something sharp in my chest just as he spoke, something painful and familiar. It made my heart ache and my lip quiver and for some reason I was overcome with anger. I was sure it was anger. It took me a moment to pin down exactly why I was feeling this fury bubble up within me. It was that I’d heard those three words before, from plenty of people in my life, plenty of times, and now from him. This man seemed to think he was superior, that he was entitled, that he was better or more deserving of things, and why? I hadn’t the faintest clue.

“These last few years have been pointless,” Jimin continued, smiling coldly. “If I am to waste away here and my family name with me, then so be it. I’m glad to quit caring about it all.”

Hoseok looked defeated, his shoulders sagging far below where they usually sat, sharp and poised. His mouth was tugged down with a pitiful scowl of which I had yet to see on his face.

Jimin didn’t seem to care one bit. His focus drifted easily over to a plate at his side filled with strips of some variety of cooked meat. “I’m going to spend the rest of my short life doing whatever I want,” He chuckled happily.

“Jimin,” Hoseok said quietly. The ginger witch perked up just enough to meet his friend’s forlorn stare. “Anny... wanted to see you... so she came with me.” He gestured behind himself with an outstretched arm, pointing directly at me.

Jimin’s eyes fell upon me and immediately widened, the color draining from his face. We locked gazes and my fists tightened at my sides. He seemed put off by the aggravated glare I was shooting him. Immediately, he gathered his robes up onto his shoulders and tied them tight around his waist.

“Anny, you can say what you wanted to say now.” Hoseok beckoned me over eagerly with his hand.

“I... I have nothing to say,” I muttered.

Jimin turned his attention back to Hoseok then. “How could you bring her here!” He exclaimed.

“She insisted!” Hoseok said, shrugging.

“She’s a human! Take her back right away!” Jimin scrambled to his feet as he spoke and ran a hand frantically through his bangs to fix them.

“Anny isn’t a _normal_ human, Jimin.”

“That’s even worse!”

They continued to bicker but the throbbing feeling in my chest only tightened further until I thought I might burst. I could feel my pulse thrumming wildly in my ears and my skin burn and suddenly the room was too hot and I was wearing too many clothes and it was all too much. I turned then and ran straight up the steps as fast I could, eyes clamped shut. At the top of the steps I dimly heard Hoseok call after me, but I didn’t stop until I’d run all the way down the hall and out of the building into the cool air.

The sun was teasing the horizon at that point, bringing with it a sky of fire. It was a battle cry of the coming night, of whatever darkness threatened Emma and Hoseok so terribly. I stood there completely still for just a moment, breathing heavy in the fading light, but my raging heartbeat urged me on and I let it march me down the empty street.

 _I_ _can’t_ _believe_ _I_ _was_ _seriously_ _considering_ _apologizing_ _to_ _that_ _wretched_ _man!_

I growled into the air, practicing seething with anger. Stomping around like I could shake the anger from my feet, I trudged past plenty of darkened shops and closed doors until I found myself back at the edge of town. I paused there, staring off into the forest before me. Now that my footfalls were quiet, all I could hear was the susurration of the leaves in the gusty wind. Looking up, I could see the high boughs of the trees and how they danced and moved. I was calmed temporarily in the silence and in the rhythmic motion, but the longer I stared the more the leaves looked like yellow eyes staring back down at me and I was reminded sadly how far I was from home, from everything I knew. Truly, I felt alone.

I crumpled down just like one of those leaves and crouched with my head buried in my knees, right there at the end of the street. The tears burst forth from me easily enough just as I settled down, spilling over my cheeks. I felt the muscles of my chin tremble like a child’s and I could hear my own sounds, distressed and small. It’d been quite a long time since I’d cried. That’s just how it was when people were hard, when they did what they always did. They took many pieces of me with them, leaving behind an invisible injury.

A hand rested itself suddenly upon my shoulder and a voice spoke, smoky and melodic and painfully familiar. I turned my face to the voice and I saw exactly the person I wanted to see least, Jimin. Leering down at me, he looked even more threatening with the blazing backdrop of the sky. He saw my reddened eyes and puffy, damp cheeks and pulled his hand from my shoulder.

“Are you crying?” Jimin had asked without a hint of sympathy, just as I expected. “Typical,” He sighed and looked back over his shoulder, surveying his surroundings for something or someone perhaps. “Get up. I’ll take you to Hoseok so he can take you home with him.”

Jimin held out his hand to me then, but I was already dragging myself to my unsteady feet. He looked unpleasantly surprised. I wiped my face on my sleeve and stepped up to him, glaring defiantly. My lips quivered but the words that left them next didn’t waver.

“You’re the one who should be going home!” I said, pointing my finger right into the fabric of Jimin’s chest and I felt his body stiffen under my fingertip. “Can you really abandon your friends so easily? You’ve obviously got people who care for you and you’re just going to throw it away?”

Jimin looked like a deer in the headlights with his boyish features stunned wide open. In fact, he looked embarrassed even as a little tint of red had started to spread underneath his round cheeks. I felt a thrill of confidence straighten out my spine at the spooked look he was giving me, but it was unfortunately short-lived.

Jimin’s expression shattered quickly into a raging snarl and I flinched. His pupils visibly shrunk in the dim glow as he bared his teeth at me. That was all it took for him to dismantle me it seemed.

“You‘re one to talk!” He hissed in reply, practically spitting at me, “You can’t even protect yourself without Hoseok and his mangy excuse for a lover, so don’t lecture me!”

A small scoff escaped my lips. “At least they give a damn about me! You don’t seem to give a damn about anyone!”

That seemed to get to him. His lip curled. “I could have protected you too but _you_ thought you were too good for me!”

“Hah!” I threw my head back at the sky along with my hands and Jimin looked wonderfully lost. “You’re the one acting like you’re superior, like you _ever_ cared about protecting me! You just wanted my powers or whatever! I’m just a thing that you can use, right? I was a fool to think there’s anything good about you!”

I knew instantly from the look in Jimin’s eyes and the way his brow quirked up and pushed together that I’d hit my mark. He was like a candle that had sizzled out. Just as quickly as the flames of impetuous ferocity had blazed within him they were gone and he looked thin again in front of me.

“I... I didn’t-“

“Oh, you found her! Thank the gods.” Hoseok appeared all of a sudden and cut awkwardly through the tension like a knife through butter. He placed a firm arm around Jimin and shook him happily, shaking the bleak look from his features.

“Hoseok!” I exclaimed, my face lighting up with a smile. He returned it eagerly.

With the two men standing next to each other the differences between them were less obvious. In fact, they looked not unlike a mismatched pair of socks, different but good together all the same.

“Yes... now take her away. I’ve had enough of all this,” Jimin said sternly and peeled Hoseok’s hand from his shoulder.

Hoseok bit at his lip and looked off to the side. “I can’t,” He said.

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Jimin asked.

“It seems that... I used up too much magic today. I didn’t really account for all the heavy duty spells I’d been castling lately. I haven’t slept at all. I won’t be able to change forms for a while.”

Jimin groaned and grabbed at the sides of his head, pulling at his hair. “Of _course_.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means that the only way to get back home... is to go through the forest.” Hoseok replied uneasily, gazing into the dark entrance of the woods.

“Well, how did Jimin get here? He didn’t have a dragon.”

“I used a broom,” Jimin said, interjecting himself to answer my question, “But you two sure as all hell couldn’t fit on one broom together... plus, it’s mine.” He crossed his arms and turned his chin up.

I felt my perception of reality slide out of alignment yet again at the mention of ‘brooms.’

“Jimin please, I could use your help to get through the forest. I won’t make you stay if you don’t want to, but I _need_ your magic now.” Hoseok pleaded, stepping close to Jimin so he could place both palms on the loose sleeves of his vesture. He looked Jimin right in the eyes and the two men locked stares for what felt like ages until Jimin eventually crumbled and turned off to the side with a deep sigh.

“I’ll take you through the woods, but that’s it. Once you’re through, I’m leaving again.” He said.

“...Alright,” Hoseok said slowly, trying to fight the smirk off his lips.

“And lets be quick, I refuse to become trapped in there once night falls,” Jimin added, walking between me and Hoseok towards the tree-line.

I grabbed at Hoseok’s shirt then and forced his attention onto me. “Hoseok, are you sure this is safe?” I asked, feeling shaky and vulnerable and more than a little terrified at the concept of heading into a strange forest for a second time.

“With the two of us, we should be fine. Jimin knows the forest really well.“ He assured me. I didn’t quite buy it and he seemed to notice that. “Think about it, you ran through the woods once before and you were fine.”

“But that was in like, the middle of the day. You said it’s deadly at night.”

Hoseok lifted a hand and gently patted the hood over my head. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” He said.

His smile was warm and his words felt genuine, so I fought off my better instincts and followed dutifully behind him as he began to walk after Jimin.

Our group entered the woods and immediately the world seemed to darken. The forest accelerated the sunset into twilight, blocking out the sunlight as if it were forming a cage around us. My eyes adjusted slowly to the encroaching gloom and I saw Jimin’s slender shape sauntering just ahead of me. The crunch of dead forest debris allowed me to recognize Hoseok’s presence just behind me and I stole a glance at him from over my shoulder. He shot me a friendly wink in return and I felt just a little more at ease. I picked up my pace to keep up with Jimin, who seemed to take one stride for every two of mine.

In what had only been maybe twenty minutes it was undeniably darker and I could no longer avoid the deep ruts in the dirt and the winding tree roots. My ankle twisted painfully when I made a misstep and I walked with a small limp for another five minutes. The trees had become tall, grey silhouettes, the air was thick with frost and the gaiety the woodland had held earlier had been replaced with a heavy sense of dread. It sat like a stone in the pit of my stomach and my heart began to pound in a way that had nothing to do with the exertion of walking. Searching for comfort once more, I fumbled my head around to look for Hoseok but behind me I saw only the silent blackness of the woodland.

“J-Jimin?” I called out, his name strangled tight and high within my throat. When he didn’t reply I called out again, louder, “Jimin!”

“What is it now?” He growled, halting in place to look behind himself for me. He saw me staring off into the inky darkness and walked up to me just as I turned to him.

“Hoseok... he’s... he’s gone! He vanished!” I cried, pointing frantically out into open air.

“What in Avalon?” Jimin muttered, squinting in the same direction I was pointing before deciding on a very succinct, “Dammit.”

I grabbed at Jimin’s robes and he broke away from scanning the trees just to grimace at me. “What happened? Where’d he go?” I asked.

“This happens rarely, but it seems he’s been separated from us. It’s the forest. It does this,” He whispered, directing his narrowed eyes back at the trunks of the trees.

“Then we have to go back! He could be in danger!” I let go of Jimin’s clothes and turned on my heel to head off blindly into the woods but he caught me on the back of my cloak, nearly suffocating me.

“No, we have to keep moving. Hoseok can handle himself. I am _not_ getting lost in this stupid forest...” Jimin said, mostly to himself, as he began to turn this way and that. His eyes flicked around with predatory accuracy and I watched silently as his expression became more and more distraught. “But... the problem with this forest is that sometimes... it all looks the same.”

I turned that statement over and over in my mind, trying to interpret it in any other way than the way I was thinking. “Oh my god,” I gasped finally, “Are we lost?”

Jimin took a few steps forward, looked up towards the boughs above and then took a deep breath. “It appears so.”

I tried to stay calm but by that point my heart was rabbiting so hard my ribcage hurt. “Can’t you fix it with, um, a magic spell or something like that?” I asked.

“No,” He said.

“Don’t you have a wand like Hoseok or Emma?”

“No.”

“Well, why not?”

“They don’t work for me.”

“Why?”

“Because they don’t!” Jimin erupted in a yell so loud a few nesting birds above us were shaken from their slumber. They flew up somewhere high above us, cawing wildly.

That’s when the tears broke through in a hot wash down my face and I stood there, totally still minus the violent shaking in my knees. A whimper forced its way up from my lungs and Jimin’s expression softened. He looked away and bit into his bottom lip.

“Just... be quiet and follow me.”

We began to move once more, much slower this time. I couldn’t tell if the sun had totally set yet, but if it hadn’t, I didn’t want to have to experience a nighttime blacker than this. Even if there was a moon that night, its rays would never have penetrated the dense canopy above. The dark pushed in on us from all sides and I swore I could feel it tug at my clothes and nip at my ankles if I concentrated hard enough.

“Stay close by, if I was to lose you, Hoseok would kill me.” Jimin said, cutting through the silence that had developed in the last half hour and I jumped a little, tripping over another root. He saw this and paused briefly to offer me his hand. I eyed it for the second time that evening like it was an infected wound and decided to ignore it. Jimin looked momentarily offended but that ended quickly when he realized I had moved a good five feet ahead.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t try to go back?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

“Yes. It’s best if we just keep moving forward. We’re making good time,” Jimin said. He continued to swivel his head around as we walked and started mumbling to himself. “How did I manage to get lost. This is absolute madness. If I die in this forest I swear will come back to life and kill Hoseok-“

Jimin, in all his swiveling, finally caught my expression in his line of sight and his words halted carefully. He took in my gaping eyes which were fixed on the ground below, and my fearful frown. I was breathing hard, my chest rising and falling with a visible tremor.

“It’s fine,” He said, smirking awkwardly, “it’s highly improbable that we will actually die.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and the halfhearted, ugly excuse for a smile he was trying to offer me. It looked like the smile of someone who had been locked in a cave half their life, but I appreciated the effort as it was the first kindness this curmudgeon had actually shown me.

“So, if we make it back, you’re still gonna abandon me and your friends?” I asked.

Jimin’s smile vanished and he shrugged in an overly aggressive manner. “It’s more complicated then you could understand, human.”

“I’m not stupid y’know.” I said accusingly, “Just because I’m not really magical like you or Hoseok or Emma doesn’t mean I’m dumb.”

“Why are you so focused on this? It’s really none of your business.”

“Because it seems like you’ve got people who love you, or at least people who care about you,” I muttered, eyebrows drawing right.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

I sighed reluctantly. “Fine, you wanna know? It’s cause I never had all that, and so I think you’re acting selfish, and a little spoiled to throw that away.”

Jimin looked frightened oddly enough by my honesty when I studied his features, like he’d just seen someone he barely knew strip down in front of him and perhaps he had. He pursed his lips and he stared off into nothingness.

“We’ll see,” He said.

I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that and just as I did, a branch cracked, somewhere off in the underbrush. The first real sound we’d heard the entire trek, and Jimin and I had heard it very clearly. We stopped and turned in the direction of the noise, my foot falling down just after his.

“What was that-“

“Shh.” Jimin brought a finger up into my face but I couldn’t stop the uneasy whimper that followed.

Stepping into a forest at night usually robbed you of one sense and heightened another. It was disorienting to be almost blinded but given the hearing of a wild animal. This was no less disorienting as the two of us stood still as stones and listened to the wind, the sound of our breathing, and the nothingness of the forest for what felt like an eternity. The quiet began to tease the edges of my sanity until I was forced to open my mouth in preparation of asking another question when we heard it once more, closer.

I didn’t get a chance to feel fear, or shock, or even take another breath. Jimin grabbed me around the arm and broke into a sprint in the exact opposite direction. My feet didn’t even brush the earth for a solid three seconds. He simply heaved me along with him like I weighed nothing. My soles eventually hit the dirt and I was running too but still struggling to stay upright with the speed he was tugging me along at. We ran and ran and ran and I didn’t have the ability to ask why. My mouth was too busy gulping down the cool air in a desperate attempt to stay even with Jimin’s speed.

“Why... are... we running!” I managed to say in between gagging inhalations of the foggy night.

“Because we’re being chased!” Jimin hissed.

Behind me suddenly, not too far of a ways back, I could hear not just our footsteps but a third set and then a fourth and then a fifth and then too many to count all beating the earth with the same reckless abandon that we were running with. Then came the noises, harrowing and teeth-chattering in nature like something from a horror movie, cackles and baying howls that made my blood run cold.

My breath started coming out in small spurts, hot and nervous. The air my heart and lungs were pumping just wasn’t enough as we sprinted forward, panic trembling in my exhausted limbs. My foot slipped in a pile of mud and I was down. Jimin felt me go and loosened his grip to let me fall. He slid to a halt and spun, racing back to where I lay.

“Get up! We have to keep running!” Jimin said as he stuffed his arms under mine and tried to pull me back to my feet.

“Stop it! It hurts!” I cried out, going limp, and Jimin laid me back down.

“Shit- Damn!” He cursed as he scanned the area frantically and he must have seen something because he stopped to take another look. I followed his eyes and saw what appeared to be a faint light, perhaps a parting in the trees. “Come on then,” Jimin grunted, kneeling down to swing his arm under one of mine, wrapping the other around his neck. He ignored my cries of displeasure and dragged me forward.

I wanted to struggle against him, to fight this man who I was still very much angry with. Although he was unreasonably warm and so I begrudgingly let him pick me up and place me lightly on my feet, despite the terribly sharp ache that had worked its way into my ankles and knees.

We hobbled, slowly and clumsily towards the light. With each step we managed to take the light got closer and brighter until finally we’d reached a clearing in the forest. The abyss of the woods emptied out into a grassy sliver of grey land, stretching in every direction other than the one we wanted to go. Forward. It stopped just short of a deep quarry and emptied over a rocky cliff, framed perfectly in the bleached spotlight of the full moon hanging overhead.

“Now what,” I said miserably.

“I don’t know,” Jimin huffed. He removed my arm from around his neck and I tested my weight. Although wobbly, I seemed to be able to stand and so I did. With my first step I stepped away from Jimin. He looked iridescent in the moonlight, staring rather seriously out over the ledge. It seemed comically unfair that someone that beautiful was so cold inside.

A growl ripped through the air then without any warning, like the crackle of thunder, and we both turned back to the tree-line to see the culprit.

“Get back,” Jimin said, stepping in front of me. I obeyed, moving back a little.

Emerging from between two thick tree trunks was the black shape of a hulking beast, its muscles rippling in the moonlight as it sauntered towards us on all fours. Its teeth, eerily white, were as sharp as a sword and its claws sliced the earth under its paws like daggers. The skin on its body was visible between sparse tufts of ragged ebony fur, covered in scars and scabs. We backed up towards the edge of the dell and even with the distance between the beast and us it obviously towered over our heads. More beasts slowly appeared at its sides from the trees and it became obvious that these monsters were some sort of horribly disfigured wolves.

“Dire wolves,” Jimin said under his breath.

I could feel the blood pump in my veins almost as ferociously as the wolves looked. Hesitantly, I ripped my eyes off their clenched jaws to look at Jimin and thankfully, he seemed to look calm and collected. His gaze was fixed still upon the wolves, making unseen calculations within his mind.

“Are we gonna die?” I asked Jimin, my voice trembling.

“No,” He said.

There was a moment of stillness, of both dominance and equivalence between Jimin and the largest wolf, standing at the head of its crooked pack. In that quick second, it seemed as though Jimin was as much a powerful, frightening being as the wolf was. Then, Jimin’s eyes slid over to me and I saw a flash of something odd in them. His chest expanded with a rousing breath and as he let it whistle out between his lips, I pinned down exactly what it was that I was seeing.

Jimin’s irises had begun to quite literally spark with color, once, twice and suddenly they were glowing. Pulsing within them was a strange light which flickered, changing colors from amber, to ruby and finally to orange. I gasped as I watched the same thing happen all along the upper portion of his body. Flames began to leap up in a roaring swirl above his head. They whipped his hair about in the moonlight like his hair itself was part of the flames. Then, he curled his hands into tight fists and flexed them back open as they were raised to his sides. With that smooth motion more flames burst forth from within his palms and along his forearms, jumping up with a shower of sparks before smoldering low to be controlled by the movements of his fingers. The fire on his body wound itself with the wind and when Jimin stepped forward, the wolves patted the ground frantically with their feet in a mixture of excitement and confusion.

“J-Jimin! You’re... you’re on fire!” I called out from behind him, pointing warily.

He smirked at my comment. “Yes.”

One of the wolves snapped its jaws, spraying spit around, and broke from the line of bodies to charge clumsily towards us. I let out a screech, bringing my arms up to defend myself as I dropped down. Instead of the wolf connecting with Jimin’s neck as it would have liked to, he gracefully dodged to the side in one fluid motion. The wolf tried to halt itself, but it slipped and hit the ground, sliding right past us with a squeal before it fell off the edge and into the quarry below. Almost immediately, more wolves lunged towards Jimin from the trees, flying at him in a wild storm of teeth and claws. My eyes begged me to look away, but I couldn’t bare to. I expected it to be over in one bloody flash, for them to come down upon us and tear me and Jimin apart, but things didn’t go that way, not at all.

In seconds, Jimin‘s flames swelled and he sent a blazing tidal wave of fire out at the wolves from his hands. I could feel the heat even from where I stood. It engulfed the bodies of the wolves around him and suddenly the ground was stained well with burned corpses.

When I looked at Jimin he was breathing fast and his skin was flushed pink from exertion, but he fixed his posture and placed himself back into a fighting stance. My eyes were wide with awe as more wolves moved to avenge their fallen comrades and he moved to swallow them up with another flood of fire as smoothly as a dancer. Jimin swayed and dipped and cut them down, one by one. He was a powerful endless swarm of flame. The flashes of red and yellow bathed my greyed out features and surroundings in color and I thought to myself that it was not unlike a bizarre fireworks display.

Just as it seemed that Jimin had the battle in the bag, it happened. I barely had a chance to react in any way other than a sharp yelp as a wolf found an opening from behind him and pounced. It let out a vicious growl just as he whirled around to face it and it landed with its teeth spread to sink deep into his shoulder. I watched, horrified, as he screamed in pain and buckled over. He rolled around on the grass, locked in a vigorous battle of strength with the massive beast. They thrashed and flailed along the ground in a mess of grunts and growls until they came dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. I yelped out again, taking a few steps towards the chaos of swarming limbs but stopped short when I noticed even more wolves were beginning to close in.

Jimin let out one extra loud snarl and brushed his robes aside to kick the wolf off of him, sending it over the edge. He flipped onto his side then and stretched one hand out. With that motion he sent a stream of fire over the weeds and lit them ablaze. The wolfs barked and hollowed with fright and pranced back from the flames, putting some distance between us and their razor sharp teeth. Finally he went limp, crumpling like an unwound toy.

“Jimin!” I cried out as I rushed eagerly to his side, and fell to my knees. “Are you okay?” Taking one hand, I placed it carefully upon his heaving chest but when I felt something hot and wet, I immediately retracted it. My hand was coated in a thick layer of blood and upon closer inspection I saw that his entire left side was also soaked with the same crimson color. “Oh my- that’s a lot of blood!”

Jimin grunted, ignoring my obvious concern towards his current state, and forced his body into a sitting position. I held my hands up and hovered them over him, unsure of what to do, but he only pushed them aside and clambered to his feet. Blood dripped thickly from his wound, staining the grass red. He looked so weak that he was swaying.

“Give me your hand,” Jimin rasped. He stuck his own glittering hand straight out to me.

“What? Why?” I asked, holding my palms flat to my chest in a defensive manner.

“I need your power,” He said and repeated the motion. “Quickly! Do you want to die?” His pupils were two thin, dark slits in the melted pools of magma that made up his eyes. He was still sputtering faintly with flames along portions of his head, shoulders and arms.

I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to be torn to shreds in a horrifying forest and have no one ever know. I didn’t want to die and never be noticed, never do anything significant or be anything significant to anyone. Though, perhaps I could do one good thing.

The sounds of the fire raging around us in a protective wall were beginning to die down and I could make out the snapping sounds of jaws clacking together, the hungry growls and the thumping of heavy feet on dirt once more. Jimin looked desperate, bloody and beaten and honestly, terrified. There was a hint of childish fear in his eyes along with all the glowing energy. It was the same childish fear I was feeling then, the equalizing fear that set every creature back into its most primal instincts and made us do anything to survive.

My eyes flicked up coldly and decisively to meet Jimin’s and he looked surprised. I placed my palms carefully at my sides and slowly brought myself to my feet. Stepping up to him, I saw the fingers on his open hand gently flex with eagerness.

“If I let you use my power, promise me that you’ll go home,” I said.

“What?” Jimin reeled back like I’d punched him. Exactly like that. “Are you crazy? Just give me your hand!”

When he tried to grab for my hand, I lifted it far out of his reach and took a step back. “Promise me! Promise that you’ll go home!” I shrieked, probably more loudly than what was necessary, and jimin visibly jolted.

He laughed nervously and ran his bloody fingers through his hair. “This is ridiculous! We’re gonna die!” He sobbed towards the moon.

In one swift punch, I caught the front of his vestments up in my fist and forced him to meet my gaze, my firmly determined gaze. “Jimin! Promise me!” I demanded.

He blinked, one shuddering breath slipping out between his lips. He looked at me, then at the wolves and then went still. “Fine,” He whispered, “I’ll go home.”

Very carefully, I trailed my hand down his arm and interlaced my fingers with his. His skin was warm, just like a furnace, and softer than velvet. It took a moment for him to read my expression, but soon he was gripping my hand back and it seemed that for just a brief second, despite being entirely different individuals, our hearts beat on the same note.

A spark shot through me suddenly, racing up my arm and all across my body, into my nerves and bones. I felt like I’d been electrocuted, but pleasantly, if that was even possible. All I knew is that I felt like I was soaring, like I’d been destroyed and rebuilt anew.

Then, like pouring gasoline on an open hearth, Jimin burst to life. He was blazing like balefire and my hair and hood were blown back by the sheer force of it. His eyes, his hair, his body, everything but his hand in mine was devoured by the great mass of his golden flames. Massive tendrils of fire, like winding serpents, licked at the sky high above him and spread sparks into the starless darkness. They looked like tails to be more specific, thrashing with a mind of their own. Now the mountainside really was cleansed of its monochromatic tones as it soaked in the color of fire.

It was beautiful.

Jimin was grinning as he gripped my hand tight, and it was obviously a grin of power, one that held the knowledge that he could defeat anything and anyone in that moment. Although, it seemed to transform his face into something younger, something filled with a lighthearted and carefree glee that perhaps might have belonged to him once. I tucked the image aside in my mind as one of those five or six rare moments of true beauty in life.

I snapped out of the spell I seemed to have temporarily been under just as a howl ripped through the silence and I looked to see that the flame wall Jimin had erected had finally sizzled out. The wolves spilled over the charred boundary line and raced towards us with death in their red eyes. I tensed up, clenching at Jimin’s palm but he didn’t flinch. He turned in the direction of the wolves and faced them with the barrel of his chest pointed out. Slowly, he raised his palm and pointed it out at them. He curled his fingers inward just a bit and faster than lightning could strike, the world in front of us became one illuminated blaze of fire. The wolves disappeared in the yellow glow and so did the forest. All that I could see was fire.

Suddenly, Jimin let go of my hand and when I looked to see what the problem was, his flames were going out and he was slouching slowly down. His knees buckled and he collapsed onto the ground below, stomach first.

“Jimin- Oh!”

I followed him down and kneeled at his side. With my all my might, I managed to turn him over onto his back to see that he was out cold. I brought one ear to his lips and listened, not caring how the blood on him smudged into my shirt. Thankfully, he was still breathing, shallow though it was. “Jimin! Please wake up,” I begged, shaking him gently.

Then, a sound like wind being stirred in a storm came from behind us and I turned from my perch over Jimin’s torso to see what it could be. Hovering in midair just above the cliff, was Hoseok, or rather Hoseok’s giant, gleaming dragon form, smiling like all animals smile. On his back, was Emma, her red hair and rosy cheeks being teased by the breeze.

“Anny!” Emma squealed and clambered to her feet like she’d just spotted a long lost relative. She balanced her way to the tip of Hoseok’s muzzle and jumped, landing just in front of me. I barely got a chance to even try to stand up before she had slammed into me and tackled me back to the ash-covered ground. Her face was streaked with tears as she sobbed into my ear. “I thought you were dead!” She cried.

“N-no, I’m alright,” I said, mumbling into the thick material of whatever cloak she was wearing, “But how did you and Hoseok find us? A-and how did Hoseok get back home?“

Emma pushed herself off me just enough so that she could talk clearer. “Oh Hoseok wandered home hours ago! I had just finished lacing all the doors and windows with every protection spell in the book and had just enough magic left to track down you two!” She said, seeming rather proud of herself in the way she puffed out her chest, “But it’s not gonna last forever, we’ve gotta go. How’s Jimin?”

 _Jimin._ _That’s_ _right._

I directed my attention back onto him and struggled to pry Emma’s arms from my shoulders so I could quickly crawl back over to his limp form. When I did, I sat there still and cradled my cheek in my palm, feeling immediately lost on how to help him.

“Oh dear, he doesn’t look so good. Hoseok c’mere sweetheart,” Emma called to him on a high note of her voice and he came, landing with a graceful thud beside our dreary little party. She then slid her wand out from within her sleeve and flicked it once over Jimin’s body. Gradually, he lifted up from the earth and past my head. I watched in stunned silence as she maneuvered his levitating body over to Hoseok’s furry back before gently draping him over it. “I’m gonna put out this fire, you feel free to climb on,” She hummed to me as she walked away.

“Hoseok, you’re a dragon again?” I asked as I approached him.

“Yes,” He chuckled, butting his head into the palm I held out to him. “I just needed a bit of tender care, food and a quick nap.”

“That’s understandable,” I laughed.

I did as Emma commanded and with about as much of an effort as it took the first time, I was able to drag myself up. Just as I was making myself comfortable sitting behind Jimin’s body, he stirred. His eyes slowly blinked open, two thin, golden crescents, with a grimace contorting his features. I watched his pinprick pupils slide lazily from the sky down to rest upon me.

“Wh-Where am I?” Jimin gasped, “What happened?”

“We’re on Hoseok’s back. He and Emma found us,” I said carefully, “I... I was scared you weren’t going to wake up.”

“Where are we going?”

“Back to the manor,” Emma interjected from a few feet away. I briefly spotted her motioning her wand over some portions of yellow flame to wave them out as she stomped out some more with her feet.

“ _Delightful_ ,” Jimin groaned. He seemed rather annoyed that he had forgotten his little agreement and pouted.

“Jimin,” I whispered gently.

“What?” He hissed, and then let out a moan of pain, clutching at the golden fur under his fists.

Jimin’s hair lay in a rumpled heap on his head, slicked against his furrowed brow, tightly shut eyelids and ruddy cheeks with sweat. His eye makeup had been smudged around his face along with patches of dirt and a few stray scratch marks. He was a bloody, bedraggled mess and yet, he still managed to hold onto that faint sense of grace and beauty.

“Thanks for saving us,” I said, giggling softly. A warm smile slowly spread itself across my face as I leaned over him, my eyes curling into happy crescent moons. It was bright and genuine and bared the white lines of my teeth to him. It was a smile that said ‘I’m happy to be alive.’

Jimin stopped writhing just as he heard me speak. His heavy-lidded eyes peeked open to trace my features with silent judgment and wonder. He softened then, in his grip, in his shoulders, and there was a strangeness in his gaze, a purely innocent amazement. I was almost sure that’s what it was. Amazement.

Jimin finally looked away, face tinted red, and my smile faded just enough that I could speak once more.

“Let’s go home.”


End file.
